News

It's almost the end of the year. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer and the climate around the majority of countries in Europe is dipping to very unpleasant levels.

Conductive keratoplasty (CK) corrects mild-to-moderate hyperopia, but the results may not be permanent, according to Jason Erlich, MD, of Stanford University School of Medicine, USA.

Clinicians should learn how to identify pellucid and screen patients for it prior to refractive surgery, according to Yaron Rabinowitz, MD, director of ophthalmology research, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA.

More prospective studies are needed to evaluate the role of diurnal and long-term intraocular pressure (IOP) function in glaucoma development and progression, according to Felipe A. Medeiros, MD, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, University of California at San Diego, USA, speaking at the glaucoma subspecialty session.

Oral antiviral medications offer an effective, more convenient option compared with topical antiviral therapy for patients with acute infectious ulcers associated with herpes simplex keratitis. Oral treatment increases the likelihood of therapy adherence, according to Deborah P. Langston, MD, FACS, speaking at the eye infection symposium.

Blue light filtering intraocular lenses (IOLs) provide protection against potential blue light toxicity without significantly affecting clinical functioning of recipients, said James D. McCulley, MD, during a spotlight session on pseudophakic IOLs.

Ranibizumab (Lucentis; Novartis) is an effective treatment for diabetic macular oedema (DME), according to Peter Campochiaro, MD, from the Department of Ophthalmology, Wilmer Eye Institute, USA, speaking at the Retina Subspecialty Day.

All the news from the 2006 meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, held November 11–14 2006 in Las Vegas, NV, US

Allan Slomovic, University of Toronto, Canada, speaking at a continuing education symposium on dry eye diagnosis and management, outlined a five-step diagnostic algorithm for dry eye.

Surgical monovision is an attractive option for presbyopes seeking refractive surgery and wanting freedom from glasses and contact lenses, according to Mark Mannis, MD, University of California, USA.

Lux Biosciences has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to acquire intellectual property rights for a cyclosporine A (CsA) eluting silicone matrix ocular implant, LX201. The candidate is to be tested for the prevention of rejection following corneal transplantation.

A gene that controls the development of the eye's lens, Six3, has been discovered by researchers at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, USA.

OccuLogix and the Japanese company Asahi Kasei Medical have announced a distribution agreement for the 2nd generation polysulfone Rheofilter component of OccuLogix's dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment system, Rheo.

TargeGen has initiated a phase I trial of TG100801, a small molecule, topically applied multi-targeted kinase inhibitor for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other degenerative eye diseases.

Optobionics Corporation has announced positive interim results from a pilot clinical trial of its Artificial Silicon Retina (ASR) device, a treatment for retinitis pigmentosa.

MacuSight has initiated a phase I study of its proprietary formulation of sirolimus to evaluate its safety and efficacy as a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Acanthamoeba is a ubiquitous, free-living protozoan that rarely causes ocular disease other than troublesome keratitis.1-5 It remains restricted to the cornea, either because the trophozoites cannot penetrate Descemet's membrane and the corneal endothelium in order to enter the anterior chamber (AC), or the trophozoites are able to enter the anterior chamber but the cells of the innate immune apparatus prevent it from progressing to cause an intraocular infection.

At the ESCRS congress in September, Peter Barry presented the full ESCRS endophthalmitis study results and controversially stated that, not only is the incidence of endophthalmitis higher than reported in the literature, but the risk of infection is further increased by clear corneal incisions and the use of silicon IOLs.

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is an inherited metabolic disease with many systemic manifestations. Although the skin changes are striking, the eye and cardiovascular lesions can be most devastating to the patient.

The National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the US National Institute for Health, is to fund a clinical trial comparing Lucentis (ranibizumab) and Avastin (bevacizumab).

In ophthalmology, particular emphasis is placed on clinical research and publications in order to gain entrance to higher specialist training. However, the length of time from submission of an article to a committee for review through to its publication, has often acted as a deterrent to many people who just want their voice to be heard As a result, concerns were raised that the length of time and administration costs of completing this process may result in a decrease in publications by junior doctors.1,2

Off-label intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (Avastin), for the treatment of neovascular and exudative ocular disease, appears to be safe, according to the results of an internet survey published in July issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

All successfully fitted patients reported immediate pain relief. The patients' subjective level of discomfort decreased and clarity of vision improved with children becoming more active and not resisting insertion of the eye drops

Zyoptix Aspheric, Bausch & Lomb's recent addition to its refractive armamentarium, has been found to induce significantly less amounts of spherical aberrations compared with conventional LASIK treatment, according to Dr Wing Kwong Chan, senior consultant and head of refractive surgery services at Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC). This technology could be most beneficial to patients with high order myopia or large pupils, and for professionals requiring best-possible night vision.

A better informed patient is a goal that all healthcare professionals strive for. Better informed patients are able to make better choices about their healthcare and give informed consent for a procedure.

Many doctors using ECP undertreat patients, which leads to unnecessary retreatments. This is understandable, as there is a fear of the consequences of over-treatment with ECP, but I have rarely, if ever, seen this

Ophthalmologists have been seeking to achieve the same quality and surgical success for high ametropia as has already been achieved for moderate ametropias. The analysis of refractive outcomes of procedures such as the Ferrara Ring implantation to correct early keratoconus, thermokeratoplasty to correct hypermetropia and corneal transplantation frequently reveals the presence of a residual ametropia that results in low or moderate visual acuity. It is our belief that the Artisan phakic intraocular lens (IOL) (Advanced Medical Optics) could go some way to adressing this issue. Hence, after mastering the surgical procedures involved for the implantation of the phakic IOL and its indication as an option for refractive surgery, we looked to assess the benefits of secondary lens implantation in the correction of residual ametropia and the impact it has on patient quality of life.

As always, there is a steep learning curve when dealing with new technologies but it is clear that outcomes with AlphaCor are continuing to improve

Retinal venous occlusions (RVO) are the most common visually disabling retinopathy after diabetes and age-related macular disease.1 The pathogenesis of RVO is multifactorial with both local factors and systemic diseases being etiologically important. It is essential that each individual contributing mechanism is established so that a beneficial treatment protocol can be developed to treat this debilitating condition.

Allergan has extended its strategic collaboration with ExonHit for the development and commercialization of drugs targeted at the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, pain and ophthalmology.