News

Des Plaines, IL-European regulatory officials have cleared the use of Addition Technology Inc.'s micro-thin prescription inserts (Intacs) for the treatment of keratoconus.

New York-Pfizer Inc. is launching a new business group to combine its products with those gained with the April acquisition of Pharmacia Corp.

Santa Ana, CA-Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) is claiming, in a complaint filed in federal court, that Alcon's Infiniti and Series 20000 Legacy phacoemulsification systems infringe AMO patents for advanced fluidics technologies in the removal of cataracts.

Marco Island, FL-The American College of Eye Surgeons (ACES) andthe Society for Excellence in Eyecare (SEE), along with Ophthalmology Times,will join for the first time to present the SEE Island/Quality Surgery XVIIISeminar. The conference, to be held Feb. 28 to March 3 at the recently renovatedMarco Island Marriott Resort, will merge the best faculty and presentationsfrom the two ophthalmic societies.

Physicians need to have a firm understanding of the resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS) because this scale assigns valuation for billions of dollars worth of procedures and services that physicians provide annually. In addition, it directly has an impact on how the money will be apportioned.

Antwerp, Belgium-Patients who have received the CrystaLens AT-45 accommodating IOL (eyeonics, formerly C&C Vision, Aliso Viejo, CA) after cataract extraction achieve very good distance and intermediate vision as well as improvements in their near vision, according to Erik L. Mertens, MD, FEBO, director and ophthalmic surgeon at Antwerp Eye Center, Antwerp, Belgium.

The Allegretto excimer laser (WaveLight Laser Technologie, Erlangen, Germany) improves refractive predictability and enhances the outcome of LASIK, based on the results of a recently completed trial of the laser system in patients with myopia and myopic astigmatism, said Karl G. Stonecipher, MD.

Atlanta-LASIK based on preoperative aberrometry data reduces the amount of postoperative halo and creates a sharper retinal image compared with conventional LASIK treatment, according to results of a retrospective study conducted at Emory Vision in Atlanta.

Ottawa-Results from the first cohort of hyperopic patients treated with wavefront-guided LASIK using the CustomVue System (VISX) show excellent safety, predictability, and stability with unparalleled vision outcomes, reported W. Bruce Jackson, MD.

Portland, OR-The addition of the burst mode to the Millennium Phacoemulsification System (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY) is a boon to the system, according to a recent study. Using the burst mode during cataract surgery reduces the amount of energy that enters the eye, which allows for a less invasive procedure and improved visual outcomes.

Munich, Germany-The aspheric Z9000 IOL (Tecnis, Pfizer) is associated with better mesopic contrast sensitivity relative to conventional IOLs, but does not maintain its superiority to spherical implants when testing is performed under mesopic conditions with glare, said Mike P. Holzer, MD, at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons annual meeting.

Although advanced nuclear sclerotic cataracts are seen with less frequency within the average U.S. practice, the rock-hard cataract does occasionally present in our examining lane and on the operating table. These dense lenses can be some of our most difficult cases due to numerous intrinsic challenges including poor visibility, fibrotic or fragile anterior capsules, large lens size, adherent cortical capsular connections, a thin or deficient epinucleus, and tenacious leathery lens fibers. Special considerations should allow the surgeon to approach these advanced cataracts with more confidence and decrease the incidence of serious intraoperative complications.

Tokyo-A new approach to phacoemulsification incorporating prechopping and the Legacy (Alcon) system with its NeoSonix handpiece (Alcon) equipped with a specially designed ultrasound tip (Akahoshi tip) and using the AdvanTec short burst mode allows removal of even hard cataracts with a minimum of ultrasound energy, said Takayuki Akahoshi, MD.

Leaders in cataract surgery agree the past year has been a time of significant developments in both technique and technology.

Santa Monica, CA-A temporal hinge LASIK flap technique significantly increases the area of treatable corneal stromal bed for a given flap diameter compared with a superior hinge flap and offers a number of other advantages, including enabling retention of a broad hinge, said Kerry K. Assil, MD.

Marblehead, MA-As the year draws to a close, U.S. ophthalmologists are taking an assessment of where things stand in their practices and in the world around them. Many are finding comfort in the knowledge that the ophthalmic market continues to hold its own in an uncertain economic climate, said Kenneth P. Taylor in an independent analysis of the vision-care sector.

Rochester, NY-Bausch &Lomb is looking to the future and the past as it celebrates the FDA acceptance of a new drug application for its new anti-inflammatory/antibiotic combination product while marking the company's 150 years in business.

As the growth of MD dispensing has been steadily increasing within the past few years, the American Association of Dispensing Ophthalmologists Inc. (AADO) has seen a parallel rise in the growth of the organization.

Boston-A recent study found that optical coherence tomography (OCT) seems to be more sensitive to changes in the retinal nerve fiber layer over time compared with standard visual field testing in patients with glaucoma, according to Gadi Wollstein, MD.

Parma, Italy-YAG laser iridotomy has a protective effect in patients with pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) who are at high risk of developing pigmentary glaucoma, according to the results of a 10-year follow-up study from the Institute of Ophthalmology in Parma, Italy.

Cincinnati, OH-Early results from an FDA clinical trial suggest that the toric implantable contact lens (ICL, STAAR Surgical) is extremely promising as a safe and effective alternative to LASIK for the correction of myopia with astigmatism, reported David Schneider, MD.

New Orleans-Cyclosporine 0.05% ophthalmic emulsion (Restasis, Allergan) appears to be safe and effective in enhancing clinical outcomes in patients with dry eye who wish to undergo LASIK, said George M. Salib, MD.

Wayne, PA-Use of a simple tool allowing objective determination of glare can lead LASIK candidates to appreciate existing problems preoperatively and through that awareness, potentially reduce the likelihood of complaints about new or exacerbated glare postoperatively, said Steven B. Siepser, MD, a private practitioner in Wayne, PA.

Heidelberg, Germany-The aspherical Tecnis Z9000 IOL (Pfizer) achieves good centration and maintains a stable position in the capsular bag to provide continued good refractive reliability and favorable functional results, said Klio A. Becker, MD, who is a member of the Heidelberg IOL and refractive surgery research group, department of ophthalmology, University of Heidelberg.

Elmhurst, IL-The design of the Tracey-Visual Function Analyzer (Tracey-VFA, Tracey Technologies) makes it a rapid, efficient tool for evaluating preoperative and postoperative LASIK patients, said Donald Sanders, MD, PhD, Center for Clinical Research, University of Illinois-Chicago, Elmhurst, IL, who has conducted research on the Tracey-VFA.

San Diego-In the future, clinicians will be better able to prevent, detect, and treat rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, according to William R. Freeman, MD.

Greenwich, CT-As a child and Azerbaijani immigrant, Vadim Filatov, MD, was a victorious chess champion. He rose from poverty, studied at Yale and Harvard, and became an enterprising ophthalmologist who was among the first to offer LASIK in the Greenwich area.

Bethesda, MD- Ten patients with late-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP) will be the first humans to receive intraocular, polymer implants containing genetically modified human retinal epithelial cells that researchers hope will prevent further vision loss.