News

There's nothing else like it in the world. The joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology is the best opportunity for you to meet your colleagues from around the globe and exchange information and skills for the advancement of the profession.

In January 2001, I was a guest lecturer at the Cuban Ophthalmological Society meeting. I was amazed to see how eager the surgeons were to learn anything that would help them take better care of their patients. In Cuba, ophthalmologists are paid $25 per month. It is true that all Cubans get a housing and food stipend in addition to their base salary, but the amount is meager compared with U.S. standards.

Irvine, CA-When Allergan announced in January that it planned to spin off its optical medical device business into a separate company called Advanced Medical Optics (AMO), David E.I. Pyott, chairman, president, and CEO of Allergan, said the company would evolve into a specialty pharmaceutical company.

Baltimore-The AcrySof single-piece acrylic IOLs (Alcon, Fort Worth, TX) provide good refractive correction, excellent stability, and a low incidence of posterior capsular opacification (PCO), said Richard A. Adler, MD.

New York-An anterior chamber phakic IOL for the treatment of high myopia combats the four major problems facing anterior chamber lenses, according to cataract sur-geon Charles D. Kelman, MD, who described the advantages of his invention.

Chicago-Strategies for maximizing visual outcomes of PRK while limiting potential complications are receiving increased attention coincident with a renaissance of interest in the procedure, according to Parag A. Majmudar, MD.

Mainz, Germany-A phakic toric IOL is beneficial in correcting myopia and hyperopia as well as regular astigmatism in the range of 2 to 7 D, according to H. Burkhard Dick, MD, one of the investigators who reported on the multicenter clinical trial of the lens.

Neuroprotection is a concept that originated in the CNS community with the development of therapies aimed at preventing or retarding the manifestations of disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, stroke, and head trauma. Less than 15 years ago, the ophthalmic community began to discuss this concept as a novel way to preserve vision in disorders of the retina.

Presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome (POHS) is characterized by a classic triad of discrete atrophic choroidal scars in the macula or midperiphery, known as "histo spots"; peripapillary atrophy; and choroidal neovascularization (CNV). It occurs bilaterally in about 60% of patients.

Minneapolis-A recent study indicates that extending the optical and treatment zones may result in fewer complaints about glare and halos from patients who undergo LASIK with the VISX Star S3 laser, according to Richard Lindstrom, MD, clinical professor of ophthalmology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Fairfax, VA-Older people who have had their cataracts removed suffer half the number of car accidents of those who have not had the surgery, according to a study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sacramento-About one out of every four children has a vision problem, according to the results from screenings held in several U.S. cities, sponsored by Vision Service Plan (VSP), an eye-care benefit plan.

Fountain Hills, AZ-Coronado Industries Inc. said it has received encouraging results from the European study of its Pneumatic Trabeculoplasty (PNT) for the treatment of glaucoma.

San Diego-Immusol has begun a phase II clinical trial for its VitrenASE, a potential treatment for proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) that could reduce the incidence of repeat retinal detachment after surgical repair.

Santa Barbara, CA-Miravant Medical Technologies says 65.6% of patients who were treated three times over 2 years at a lower dose of its PhotoPoint SnET2 photodynamic therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) maintained stable vision compared with 39.3% of patients taking placebo.

Cleveland-A specialist in neuro-ophthalmology and a specialist in corneal and autoimmune disorders have joined the staff of the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

Fairfax, VA-The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) will rename its Innovator's Lecture to the Charles D. Kelman Innovator's Lecture to recognize his contributions to ophthalmology.

San Dimas, CA-Bausch & Lomb and InSite Vision will develop a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone that incorporates InSite Vision's drug delivery system, DuraSite.

Vancouver, Canada-QLT and Novartis are running a new phase IIIB trial of verteporfin (Visudyne) to determine whether better outcomes occur if CNV leakage is treated with a more aggressive treatment regimen in the first 6 months.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Patients undergoing elective phacoemulsification can be discharged the same day and return for follow-up 2 weeks later, achieving the same results as those also seen 1 day postop, according to Christopher Tinley, MB, ChB, at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Estrogen-whether endogenous or from hormone replacement therapy (HRT)-appears to help prevent cataract formation, according to Australian researcher Christine Younan, MD, who reported her findings at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Dorado, Puerto Rico-Cataract and other major surgeries made up a large part of ophthalmologists' practice revenue in 1995. Clinical services also contributed substantially to the bottom line. But over the last 7 years, surgeons have seen a decline in both these areas, noted practice management consultant James Rienzo.

Ottawa-Thanks to advances in techniques and technology, surface ablation with PRK or LASEK for eyes with low-to-moderate refractive errors yields visual outcomes equivalent to LASIK with lower risks of vision-threatening complications and fewer re-treatments, said W. Bruce Jackson, MD.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Vitrectomy with retinal vein cannulation and infusion of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) is a relatively safe procedure that improves vision in patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) or hemispheric retinal vein occlusion (HRVO), according to Jeffrey N. Weiss, MD.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-A newly developed high-speed optical coherence tomography (OCT) system for recording 3-D images of the human retina promises to be a valuable tool for the diagnosis of retinal diseases, said Christoph K. Hitzenberger, PhD, associate professor of medical physics at the Institute of Medical Physics, University of Vienna, Austria.

Irregular astigmatism, one of the most frequent complications of corneal refractive surgery, was relatively unnoticed and underestimated until video keratography showed that some irregular astigmatism is present in as high as 40% of patients who have undergone corneal refractive surgery.1

Vancouver, British Columbia-Surgeons treating patients with high degrees of hyperopia should consider performing a procedure other than PRK because of the development of apical scarring with potential subsequent severe vision loss, according to Simon P. Holland, MD, clinical associate professor, department of ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Philadelphia-The performance of glaucoma medications in phase III FDA trials may not reflect their performance in a real-world clinical setting, according to researchers at Wills Eye Hospital.

Two glaucoma drugs approved last year, travoprost (Travatan, Alcon) and bimatoprost (Lumigan, Allergan), are associated with higher rates of hyperemia than the more established drug latanoprost (Xalatan, Pharmacia). However, the hyperemia is seldom a clinically significant side effect, according to a sampling of physicians who are familiar with all three drugs.

He journeyed to the United States and achieved the American dream-professional and personal success. Born in India, educated there and in Britain and the United States as an ophthalmologist, V.K. Raju, MD, settled in Morgantown, WV, and began his career as a professor in the department of ophthalmology at West Virginia University, and on the staff of Monongalia General Hospital.