Articles

"Recognising the trend amongst European ophthalmologists to sub-specialise has been a high priority for the European Society of Ophthalmology," its president Gabriel van Rij told Ophthalmology Times Europe.

"When treating patients with DME, ophthalmologists should consider the role of the glitazone class of drugs," warn the authors of a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Scientists at New York's Rochester University say that playing violent video games may improve contrast sensitivity, which is often impaired by amblyopia.

The premarket application for VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc's implantable telescope for end-stage AMD has been approved, with conditions, by the FDA in the US.

A Swiss startup company, Sensimed, has developed a novel technology for measuring increases in intraocular pressure.

A new method for corneal transplantation developed by Dr Cesar Carriazo, Centro Oftalmológico Carriazo, Colombia was presented at the recent ASCRS 2009 in San Francisco.

Ciliary epithelial cells inside the eye, previously proposed as retinal cell stems, have now been established as being normal adult cells. The misidentification was uncovered by Michael Dyer, PhD and researchers at the St Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology.

In what is believed to be the first comprehensive eye disease study among urban pre-schoolers, investigators writing in the April issue of the journal Ophthalmology report that while vision problems are rare, they are more common than once thought.

Researchers at the Moran Eye Centre are using transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) to develop TEM-compatible molecular probes with software that will tag cells with a molecular signature, creating 'colour' TEM imaging.

One of the world's leading eye research centres, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, has been awarded three PhD studentships worth £280,000 tenable from October 2009.

Prior to the 17th Congress of The European Society of Ophthalmology - Societas Ophthalmologica Europea (SOE) the society is sounding a call to action and warning that its success depends on the support of each and every ophthalmologist.

The investigative research group Catalyst for a Cure has made significant discoveries developing a better understanding of the insidious changes caused by glaucoma and is developing strategies to prevent them.

While researching the long-suspected gene linked to glaucoma, WDR36, Michael Walter, PhD, and team discovered that the gene STL1 is only one of many other genes in which mutations must take place in order for WDR36 to cause glaucoma.

Dr Vikas Shankar has found that in the diabetic population with OAG, the optic nerve damage occurs at a lower intraocular pressure in comparison with the non-diabetic OAG population and asks: does screening hold the key?

Your thoughts on the efficacy of initiatives such as World Glaucoma Day.

Patients in need of visual corrections whose vision is not affected by existing high-order aberrations (HOAs) may have an alternative to wavefront treatment using an aberration-free method.

Quantitative analysis of colour vision defects provides the possibility of follow-up and may be a useful means for detecting early glaucomatous changes in patients with normal visual fields.

Biologists at the Florida State University, USA, have discovered a gene mutation in Zebrafish that determines if the cells develop as rods or as cones.

Many patients undergoing phacoemulsification want more than simply cataract extraction. Dr Detlev Breyer says that advances in surgical technique and IOL design have made it possible to satisfy most patients' requirements.

The founder of a public database that helps ophthalmologists and other members of the medical profession is the recipient of the 2009 March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award for lifetime achievement in the field of genetic sciences.

The trend for microincisional procedures is escalating. Dr Boris Malyugin compares SICS and C-MICS.

A single procedure may be as effective as repeated anti-VEGF injections claims Timothy L. Jackson.

Dr Gilles Lesieur asks: Do disposable microincision knives or diamond knives provide patients with the best postoperative visual outcome?

It would probably be safe to assume that everyone reading this piece will have at least heard of Twitter; even if they are not actually using it. However, knowing that Twitter is out there and using it effectively are two very different things.

Dr Sami El Hage outlines a technique for early detection of corneal ectasia using four different displays: the normal average cornea, Zernike polynomials, Fourier harmonics and elevation plots.

Blindness in millions of people with diseases that starve eye tissue and nerves of oxygen might be averted with a procedure being developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Southern California and the University of Tennessee.

The investigative research group Catalyst for a Cure has made significant discoveries developing a better understanding of the insidious changes caused by glaucoma and is developing strategies to prevent them.

According to Eye Research Australia researchers at the University of Melbourne, a high intake of fresh and processed red meat is positively associated with early AMD, the leading cause of blindness among older people. Diet has often been postulated to alter the risk of AMD.

The CABERNET (CNV Secondary to AMD Treated with Beta RadiatioN Epiretinal Therapy) clinical trial is pivotal to establishing the safety and effectiveness of a beta radiation based focal epimacular brachytherapy device. Its development in bringing a paradigm shift in the way retina specialists treat wet AMD patients moved a step closer as Neovista Inc. secured more than $18 million in its Series D private venture funding round.

In infants with birth weights of 1250 g, haemangiomas are associated with the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), according to study data published in the March 2009 issue of Pediatrics.