News

Consideration of all the available options should be made to correct refractive surprises, emphasized Dr Noel Alpins (NewVision Clinics, Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia) when speaking during the 'Assessment of Astigmatism' session at the 2013 ESCRS Congress.

Management of DME

In this piece, Dr Manish Nagpal describes his experience and treatment protocol using pattern-scanning laser to manage DME patients, highlighting the benefits of targeted laser application and discussing a case where DME was resolved successfully.

Various models of mutlifocal IOLs are currently available that enable patients to see at two focal points (distant and near). These lenses have demonstrated good safety, efficacy and predictability in correcting ametropia and presbyopia after phaco surgery although some visual side effects have been observed.

Dr Morris recently discussed his study, evaluating the Lentis MF-15 toric lens as an effective treatment for astigmatism despite having a low add power. Here, we present the key outcomes of his talk.

Implantation of an intracorneal inlay (Kamra, AcuFocus) modified the normal structure of the corneal layer of the eye but did not cause severe complications in a recent small study.

Bruch's membrane thickness is not related to axial length in highly myopic eyes, and axially elongated eyes - despite having thinning of the sclera and choroid - have a normal Bruch's membrane thickness.

Align toric IOLs and skip the manual marking and data transfer steps with products designed to work together for markerless toric IOL alignment.

Urgent vitrectomy/phacovitrectomy to treat retinal detachment will produce the best postoperative visual acuity when it is conducted within 2 days or less of the detachment, according to a recent study.

When predicting topographical change in corneal remodelling, the new curvature gradient map, acquired immediately after surgery, predicted change in tangential curvature over the subsequent 12 months in areas where initial tangential curvature was greatest.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a significant risk factor for normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), according to a newly published research article.

Temperatures measured by a newly developed non-contact ocular surface thermographer (OST) can be used to evaluate the efficacy of topical anti-allergic agents because of the significant correlation of the conjunctival surface temperature and the severity of conjunctival allergic reaction, according to recently published data.

Both toric IOLs and peripheral corneal relaxing incisions (PCRIs) reduce astigmatism, but toric IOLs do so to a greater extent as well as being more predictable, according to results of a recently published study.

Thickness of the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) correlates with the bicaudate ratio (BCR) and with subtypes of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to results from a recently published study.

Repetitive activation of residual vision with training of the visual field borders and areas of residual vision can improve visual field defects caused by glaucoma and increase detection sensitivity, according to results from a randomized clinical trial.

One solution for presbyopes is small diameter corneal inlays and in this article Dr Ratkay-Traub discusses her study into the long-term outcomes of presbyopia treatment with a hydrogel near vision inlay.

Rethinking VMT

During a press briefing held at the 4th COPHy congress in Budapest, Hungary, key opinion leaders discussed VMT and macular holes and how a new injectable drug could benefit patients. In this article, we will present the highlights of this meeting.

SLT is a popular treatment option for glaucoma. In this article, Dr McAlinden discusses his recent paper that reviewed comparative studies from peer-reviewed journals, finding encouraging and reassuring results about SLT.

A new agent aimed at treating symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion may lead to variable outcomes based on several pre-treatment patient characteristics.

Predicting the position of an iris-fixated pIOL is important to ensure intraocular structure health is maintained. In this article, Dr Soltani Moghadam describes his recent study that found AS-OCT imaging technique to be particularly useful as a preoperative simulation technique.

Corneal anterior segment imaging has emerged as a screening tool for refractive surgery, cataract and glaucoma. In this article, the authors discuss their recent study that identified a set of normative data to correct for sources of bias in pre-surgery screening.

Audible labelling

Label inserts for medications or other important items can prove to be a challenge, particularly for those who have failing eyesight. In answer to this problem a new technology has been released that communicates the packaging information to the consumer using a smartphone app. In this article, we, at OTEurope, spoke with the CEO of Speech Code GmbH, Barbara Operschall, to learn more about this innovative and exciting technology.

In comparing conventional slit lamp photography with iPhone images, it was found the smartphone produces higher-quality pictures and in a more economical way.