News

Steroids are an important second-line treatment for the treatment of diabetic macular oedema. While side effects remain a concern, modern formulations of intravitreal steroid allow the treatment to be tailored to the individual patient.

In a Phase IIa study of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, a single subretinal injection of rAAV.sFlt-1 gene therapy (AVA-101) demonstrated acceptable safety, but not a complete or durable response. Additional preclinical research is underway.

Current IOL designs offer a variety of optical options for the correction of presbyopia. Regardless of the principal of correction, compromise is required. However, a new class of IOLs, currently referred to as extended-depth-of-focus IOLs (EDOF-IOLs), seems to be generating very satisfied patients.

While traditional transscleral cyclophotocoagulation is effective at lowering IOP in patients with glaucoma, it has a high rate of side effects. The new MicroPulse system is effective and affordable with an excellent safety profile.

Clinicians can accurately estimate the central corneal power in corneas that have undergone myopic laser refractive surgery using an adjusted keratometric index, researchers said.

Incorrect IOL power is one of the most frequent reasons for IOL exchange following cataract surgery. Different options for the correction of residual refractive errors are being developed, including piggyback IOLs, light-adjustable lenses and multicomponent IOLs.

Scheimpflug photography using a novel device (Sirius, Costruzione Strumenti Oftalmici) provides consistent measurements of the iridocorneal angle at different meridians in healthy eyes and could be used to detect occludable angles.

Topography disparity can even provide a useful parameter for diagnosing the subclinical form of the disease, said David P. Piñero, PhD, and colleagues from the Medimar International Hospital, Alicante, Spain.

Cataract surgery appears to reduce the risk of glaucoma in eyes with pseudoexfoliation (PEX) syndrome, researchers said.

The Novel Evidenced Assessment of Tortuosity (NEAT) system is intuitive and works even with poor images, according to its creators, Konstantinos Balaskas and his colleagues at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and five other centres in the United Kingdom.

Though there is scant research to guide treatment, tea tree oil shampoo might successfully improve some cases of blepharitis, according to two physicians at the Eye Unit, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, United Kingdom.

Rounded phaco tips reduce the risk of posterior capsule rupture, increasing the safety of phacoemulsification. The Dewey Radius Tip, which is used exactly like a sharp-edged phaco needle, has rounded edges. This reduces the risk of posterior capsule rupture during cataract surgery.

A single-layered closure technique may work as well as a double-layered closure technique in lower eyelid reconstruction, a new study suggested.

Five years of experience with the Rayner T-flex aspheric IOL show it to be a safe, highly effective long-term method of correcting the widest possible range of sphere and cylinder errors in pseudophakic patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism.

The combination of MICS and MIGS can offer an effective surgical treatment for POAG when the reduction of IOP following cataract surgery alone is not sufficient to reduce a patient’s need for glaucoma therapies.

Though ocular hypertension may be the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma, the second-leading cause of sight loss in the United Kingdom, monitoring for ocular hypertension more than twice a year is not efficient, researchers said.

The risks of intraocular lens (IOL) replacement in children under 2 years of age may exceed the benefits, according to Ameenat Lola Solebo and colleagues from the British Isles Congenital Cataract Interest Group.

Corneal asphericity, OCT angiography, and balance control issues in glaucoma patients are analyzed in this industry update roundup.

Adult stem cells derived from bone marrow are showing promise as a treatment for peripheral vision loss associated with glaucoma.

The submerged cornea using backgrounds away (SCUBA) peeling technique may be more effective than the newer Muraine technique for preparing endothelial donor grafts for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK).

Isarna Therapeutics has begun a Phase I clinical trial of ISTH0036, an antisense oligonucleotide selectively targeting transforming growth factor beta (TGF-ß2), to treat advanced glaucoma.

Ocriplasmin (Jetrea, ThromboGenics) is an option for the management of patients who have full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) and vitreomacular adhesion, according to an article in press in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) with epithelial disruption appears to safely and effectively treat keratoconus or iatrogenic corneal ectasia, according to a study recently published in Eye. In fact, patients may tolerate the approach better than they tolerate the technique involving complete removal of the epithelium, say the authors, from the Corneoplastic Unit and Eye Bank of Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, UK.

In this article, the authors discuss how WF?guided and WF-optimized LASIK performed on hyperopic patients can provide similar results in terms of safety, contrast sensitivity and refractive error.

In SMILE the anterior-most stromal lamellae remain intact postoperatively. Here, the author discusses the biomechanical advantages of preserving the stronger anterior stroma and the resulting effects on spherical aberration control and optical quality.

Intracameral antibiotic therapy helps prevent endophthalmitis after cataract surgery, while topical antibiotic therapy does not, according to a literature review conducted by researchers from Denmark and published online in Acta Ophthalmologica.

A new trifocal diffractive IOL (FineVision trifocal IOL, PhysIOL), implanted bilaterally, achieved a full range of adequate vision, satisfactory contrast sensitivity, and a lack of significant adverse photic phenomena, according to Spanish researchers reporting in BMC Ophthalmology.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and glaucoma have been linked to each other and to H. pylori infection, in a recent study published in BMC Ophthalmology.

According to recent study data, higher vitamin C intake may be inversely associated with the risk of cataract.

Intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) has been found to improve vision related quality of life in diabetic macular oedema (DME) patients, notes a study recently published in the Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications.