Month: May 2013

Adalimumab more effective as first-line anti-TNF-a therapy for uveitis

Adalimumab had better efficacy when used as the first anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha treatment for childhood chronic uveitis than when used after infliximab failed, according to study results.In an open-label, multicenter study, Italian researchers evaluated 26 patients (median age, 8.6 years; 14 female) with resistant, noninfectious active uveitis. The children were enrolled in two treatment groups, due to the refractory course of uveitis to previous disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Fourteen children (group 1; 10 with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), three with idiopathic uveitis and one with Behçet’s syndrome) received adalimumab (24 mg/m2, (Read more...)

Advances in Glaucoma Technology

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Drs. Douglas Rhee and Shuchi Patel share the latest developments in glaucoma, including their tips for implanting the iStent in patients with glaucoma.

Momentum builds for repealing SGR; could ‘doc fix’ be next?

Since the late 1990s, Medicare payments to participating physicians have been linked to changes in the country’s gross domestic product through the program’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. As readers of this blog are well aware, this formula produces an automatic reduction in payments to physicians if overall program spending exceeds a pre-determined target. Of course, Congress has suspended these automatic cuts each year since 2002 through a series of temporary “doc fixes.” If Congress fails to enact a similar suspension this year, the SGR formula could result in a (Read more...)

Posterior Iris-claw Aphakic Intraocular Lens Implantation in Children – Corrected Proof

Purpose: To evaluate the indications, visual outcomes, and complication rate after posterior implantation of an iris-claw aphakic intraocular lens (IOL) in children.Design: Noncomparative retrospective cohort study.Methods: setting: Institutional practice. patients/intervention procedures: Seven eyes of 4 children without adequate capsular support had posterior chamber iris-claw aphakic IOL implantation between 2007 and 2012. main outcome measures: Visual acuity, endothelial cell changes, intraoperative and postoperative complications.Results: The mean age of the 3 boys and 1 girl was 12.0 ± 3.4 (SD) years (range 8-16 years). In all eyes, the mean postoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (0.13 ± 0.17 logMAR) was statistically significantly better (Read more...)

Prevalence of Blindness and Outcomes of Cataract Surgery in Hainan Province in South China – Corrected Proof

Objective: To define the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment (VI) in people in rural Hainan using the rapid assessment of avoidable blindness (RAAB) and to report the outcomes of cataract surgery among the residents.Design: Population-based, cross-sectional survey.Participants: A total of 6482 rural residents of the Hainan province.Methods: A total of 136 clusters, each of which consisted of 50 people aged ≥50 years, were selected through probability-proportionate-to-size sampling. Door-to-door visits were performed by 2 outreach teams. Visual acuity (VA) was measured on site, and those with VA <6/18 in either eye were examined by an ophthalmologist. Causes of blindness and (Read more...)