Articles

Ellex Medical Lasers has received FDA 510(k) approval to market the Ellex 30XL laser slit lamp.

The AcrySof angle-supported phakic refractive IOL (Alcon) continues to offer patients with high myopia stable and accurate refractive results with excellent visual acuity (VA), according to physicians speaking at the XXIV Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) in London last September.

The introduction of anti-VEGF therapy has revolutionized the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD); the main cause of blindness in the industrialized world. Large numbers of previously untreatable patients will now be eligible for treatment which, in itself, represents an overwhelming challenge to healthcare providers. Discussion and careful planning is needed to ensure that the manpower and funds are in place to deal with this new era in ophthalmic care.

It is an accepted fact that people in the UK have one of the poorest diets in Europe; with the consumption of poor-quality, low-priced foods, along with lack of exercise fuelling the rise in obesity amongst many other diseases.

A review of the various studies that have investigated the best way to treat macular oedema secondary to CRVO.

Pilot study, which examines the benefits of combining photodynamic therapy (PDT) with bevacizumab (Avastin) in AMD patients, yields promising results.

Correction of very high myopia, i.e. above –9.00 D, remains a controversial topic and new designs of phakic IOLs have spurred great interest in the past five years. Presently, long-term results are becoming available and some interesting conclusions can be drawn, explained Matteo Piovella, MD, who reported his four-year results with one of these lenses at the XXIV Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons in London.

Are clear corneal incisions safe? Veteran practitioner says 'yes'

Zeiss: all under one umbrella

Highlights from an expert roundtable meeting on coaxial microincision cataract surgery.

OCT a good AMD screening tool

In a systematic review of literature, Dr Donald Minckler reports on randomized, controlled trials of aqueous shunts and compares the success rates with those achieved by trabeculectomy.

Quantitative analysis of the impact of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on the UK population has led a team of researchers to call for urgent, early access to the new class of drug therapies for the disease.

A report presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) held in May of this year, observed an increased number of uveitis cases at a New York clinic at the same time as there were peaks in tree pollen levels.

There may be an association between Alzheimer's disease and the onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a report presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting held in Fort Lauderdale, USA during May of this year.

Intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements taken with Pascal dynamic contour tonometry (DCT) and the TonoPen appear to be influenced by central corneal thickness (CCT), according to a study published in the May issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.

Using photodynamic therapy (PDT) and high-dose intravitreal triamcinolone to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) associated with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) stabilizes vision and reduces the need for re-treatments, according to the results of a study published in the April/May issue of Retina Journal.

ISTA Pharmaceuticals has released promising preliminary results of a Phase II/III clinical study of its treatment for allergic conjunctivitis, bepotastine.

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All the news from the meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, held May 6–10 2007 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US.

There is no difference in the prevalence of amblyopia and strabismus in a population of Hispanic and African-American children preschool children and the prevalence of the two pathologies increases with age, according to Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, from the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles.

Wolfgang Drexler, PhD, was instrumental in the development of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and has contributed significantly to advances such as ultra high-resolution OCT. But befitting someone who is recognized for his future promise as well as his prior accomplishments, Dr. Drexler has no shortage of ideas for enhancing OT's value as a clinical and research tool. Dr. Drexler, professor of biomedical engineering at Cardiff University, Wales, received the Cogan Award Tuesday night.

Analysis of the time course of visual acuity outcomes during the first year of the ANCHOR study indicates that the mean visual acuity benefit of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) compared with photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin (Visudyne, Novartis) was observed after the first month of treatment, but that even patients who did not show this early benefit might respond later in the treatment course, said Jeffrey Heier, MD, Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston.

The central role of blood-retinal-barrier breakdown in the development of diabetic macular edema provides a rationale for exploring the use of corticosteroids as a treatment option, said Glen J. Jaffe, MD, professor of ophthalmology, Duke University Eye Center, Durham, NC.

A new model for latex bead injections demonstrates that this is a viable approach to increasing IOP and inducing loss of retinal ganglion cells in rats, said Rebecca M. Sappington, PhD, research fellow, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Nashville.

In a small case series, all eyes in infants treated with bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) showed a decrease in fluorescein leakage from neovascularization after the injection. Although this series involved only five eyes in three patients with short-term follow-up, the results suggest that bevacizumab could be an alternative for treatment of severe ROP that is refractive to conventional laser treatment, said Shunji Kusaka, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Japan.

Primary bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) therapy for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration resulted in two to three ETDRS lines of improvement, which is similar to that with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech). Bevacizumab rescue therapy administered following treatment with pegaptanib (Macugen, OSI/Eyetech, Pfizer Ophthalmics) resulted in minimal improvement, said William Freeman, MD, from the Department of Ophthalmology, Shiley Eye Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA.

Vitrectomy with drainage of cystoid spaces is being evaluated as a new surgical treatment for patients with chronic cystoid diabetic macular edema (DME) who are unresponsive to other interventions and who have minimal or no leakage on fluorescein angiography and good foveal capillary perfusion, said Hilel Lewis, MD, director, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.