News

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.

While there are extensive data supporting the concept that antiVEGF agents may have a role in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), emerging knowledge about DME pathogenesis is suggesting alternate therapeutic targets and new paradigms for multidrug treatment, said Lloyd P. Aiello, MD, PhD, director, Beetham Eye Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston.

Drivers with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who used a small, spectacle-mounted bioptic telescope reported fewer self-imposed driving restrictions when compared with drivers with AMD who did not use the telescope. Alex R. Bowers, PhD, MCOptom, of the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, noted that drivers with AMD who used the telescope drove greater distances and to more paces and reported fewer difficulties in potentially challenging situations, such as night driving, heavy traffic, or rain.

Ilene Gipson, PhD, received the Friedenwald Award for her seminal contributions to basic and clinical understanding of wound healing, epithelial anchorage and mucin biology in the areas of ocular surface and cornea research.

With proper technique, Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) with phacoemulsification is not any riskier than DSAEK alone, said Mark A. Terry, MD, director of cornea services, Devers Eye Institute, Portland, OR.

Data from the ongoing European Optic Disc Assessment Trial (EODAT) indicated that imaging techniques could be valuable assets to ophthalmologists in the diagnosis of glaucoma, according to Nic Reus, MD, from the Glaucoma Service of The Rotterdam Eye Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Topical latanoprost (Xalatan, Pfizer Ophthalmics) upregulates matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, and FP receptor gene expression in the mouse sclera. These responses are critically dependent on an intact FP receptor gene, said John Crowston, MD, University of Melbourne, Center for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia.

Newly identified risk factors that increase the risk of development of persistent esotropic amblyopia are delay in referral and anisometropia in children with infantile or accommodative esotropia, said Eileen Birch, PhD, from the Pediatric Eye Research Laboratory, Retina Foundation of the Southwest, and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

Treatment of bilateral refractive amblyopia, primarily with only spectacle correction, improves binocular visual acuity in children aged 3 to less than 10 years, with most achieving 20/25 acuity or better within 1 year, reported David Wallace, MD, for the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group. Dr. Wallace is from the Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University, Durham, NC.

Treatment of macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) with pegaptanib sodium (Macugen, OSI/Eyetech, Pfizer Ophthalmics) was associated with improved visual acuity in a comparison with patients receiving sham injections. This finding suggests that pegaptanib, which inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), may provide functional benefits to patients with CRVO, said John A. Wells III, MD, a private practitioner at the Palmetto Retina Center, Columbia, SC.

Rapid advances in technology and improved ablation algorithms for the femtosecond laser have enabled its use to dissect the donor corneal lamellae for Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK), said Donald Tan, MD, professor of ophthalmology, National University of Singapore.