Cataract & Refractive

Demand for excellent uncorrected distance visual acuity after cataract surgery is increasing, especially with the availability of new presbyopia-correcting IOLs. This phenomenon is opening up a new class of patients to the benefits of laser vision correction.

As the evolution in refractive surgery continues, surgeons can expect to see the journey continuing back to the surface—aided by new strategies to improve the outcomes of sub-Bowman's keratomileusis (SBK) and PRK.

Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) continues its commitment to the LASIK industry by reaching out to a generation of nearly 290 million people worldwide who want better everyday vision.

Results of retrospective studies of eyes undergoing surface ablation treatments at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, are suggesting an algorithm for using mitomycin-C (MMC) to prevent haze.

Aspheric intraocular lenses induce less wavefront aberrations and perform better in photopic and mesopic conditions than spherical IOLs.

A new preloaded disposable intraocular lens (IOL) injector that uses no viscoelastic was unveiled at the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting held, this year, in Vietnam.

A study published in the September issue of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery suggests that a laser welding technique could offer a good alternative to suturing for closing corneal wounds following phaco or extracapsular cataract extraction.

The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) has approved AMO's LASIK technologies for use on US astronauts.

Austrian pharmaceutical firm Croma-Pharma has acquired two companies, thus strengthening its cataract surgery portfolio and, according to the firm, moving it into the top five list of companies operating in the European ophthalmic market.

A chloramphenicol 0.25%-betamethasone 0.13% (C&B) gel combination has comparable efficacy and tolerance and better acceptance by patients than an aqueous tobramycin 0.3%-dexamethasone 0.1% (T&D) preparation for controlling inflammation and prophylaxis of endophthalmitis following cataract surgery.

The use of dexamethasone eye drops following cataract surgery has a greater effect on the blood glucose profile of diabetic subjects than in diabetic subjects treated with diclofenac.

Surface ablation provides an opportunity to reduce the biomechanical weakening of the cornea. The downsides have always been pain and the relatively slow pace of visual recovery, but with Epi-LASIK, we are now able to manage those factors much more effectively

The corneal stroma has the ability to clear microorganisms introduced during LASIK.

The desired refractive outcome is approximately 2 D by age two and 1 to 2 D by age three, reflecting the fact that the majority of growth of the eye has occurred by this age

Although the incidence of post-LASIK ectasia is relatively low, the topic continues to be the focus of much debate.

I am sure many surgeons are familiar with these complaints and for those wishing to switch to bimanual cataract surgery, there are certainly a number of initial difficulties that must first be overcome.

I have been developing a new technology for the surgical treatment of myopia for some years now and I presented the results with my first set of patients at this year's ASCRS congress in San Diego, USA. Overall, I believe that this new, minimally invasive method of surgery could present a feasible alternative to invasive LASIK and intraocular surgery in moderate to high myopes.

Without performing LASIK, 85-90% of [multifocal IOL] patients may achieve spectacle independence. However, with LASIK success rates are about 99%

The use of intracameral cefuroxime at the end of cataract surgery reduces the occurrence of postoperative endophthalmitis.

Overall, this study showed that wound integrity was maintained in eyes receiving microcoaxial phaco, while all eyes receiving bimanual phaco had spontaneous wound leakage, increased wound hydration, penetration of ink particles into the anterior chamber and some degree of corneal wound burn

...we have been able to develop some real staging-based guidelines for the therapeutic treatment of keratoconus and, in our opinion, corneal collagen cross-linking is mainly effective in the first and second stage of the disease

Professor Gholam Peyman discovers a new use for dry eye therapy cyclosporine A.

MICS is no longer just a more modern and innovative therapeutic option for cataract; it is also the best choice when offering refractive solutions.

The development of small sutureless incisions in cataract surgery has led to an increased interest in the use of topical ocular anaesthesia. Topical administration of anaesthetic agents is a very simple technique that can achieve good anaesthesia and eliminate potentially sight-threatening complications related to peribulbar or retrobulbar anaesthesia, such as haemorrhaging, optic nerve trauma or globe perforation.

Guy Sallet talks us through a new "viscoless" procedure and outlines the advantages of such surgery, which include fewer IOP spikes, shortened surgery time and less microincision blockages.

There are several surgical options available for the correction of aphakia, yet there is no clear winner in the competition for the best method: anterior chamber intraocular lenses (IOLs), suturing a posterior chamber IOL in the sulcus or using an iris claw lens. If an iris-claw lens, like the Verisyse IOL (AMO), is chosen, it will usually be fixated to the iris in the anterior chamber. Alternatively this IOL can also be fixated on the posterior surface of the iris (Figure 1).

Angle-supported phakic IOLs can no longer be sold or implanted in France because of their association with significant endothelial cell loss, which was discovered in patients two to three years after implantation.

AMO has received FDA approval for the Advanced CustomVue Monovision procedure, the first wavefront-guided procedure for the correction of myopic prebyopes, with or without astigmatism.

Blue-blocking intraocular lenses (IOLs) offer no advantages to the eye and could actually cause health problems such as insomnia and depression.

Although femtosecond lasers offer a strong alternative to microkeratomes, they are not suitable for every situation, according to Theo Seiler, MD.