News

Ocriplasmin (Jetrea, ThromboGenics) may achieve lower macular hole closure rates than in trials, new British and Irish data suggests. Also, “the incidence of adverse events was greater than previously reported,” wrote RJ Haynes of Bristol Eye Hospital in Bristol, United Kingdom, and colleagues in the journal Eye.

More citizens from the United Kingdom are traveling abroad for laser eye procedures, according to a medical travel website. Enquiries from the United Kingdom into overseas clinics for laser procedures rose 60% in the 12 months ending November 15, 2016, according to WhatClinic.com, which lists medical clinic by location.

With the start of each new year also comes the hope for many innovations and advances. On top of that, I hope we can still make progress for our patients in our beloved field of ophthalmology.

Millions of adults around the world run the risk of losing their eyesight because of inattention to complications of diabetes, according to a team of international researchers. “A quarter of people with diabetes surveyed are not discussing eye complications with their health care professional, with many presenting when vision problems have already occurred,” the report said.

Optical services chains in the United Kingdom are misleading customers about filters to screen out blue light from electronic devices, according to the BBC. Boots Opticians and Vision Express both claim that the filters protect against retinal damage despite a lack of evidence, the news service said in a recent press release.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expediting its review of a new potential treatment for giant cell arteritis, a rare inflammatory disease that can cause permanent vision loss, Roche has announced.

Clinicians can predict which patients with ocular hypertension are most likely to develop primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) using short-wave automated perimetry, scanning laser polimetry, and confocal laser ophthalmoscopy, as well as the patient’s age, researchers said.

Further calibrations for the equivalent keratometry readings (EKR) obtained by the Pentacam High Resolution (HR) (Oculus, Germany) should be conducted before they are used for total corneal power assessment in post-LASIK eyes, researchers said.