Abdullah Nasser
WASHINGTON — “Dropless” cataract surgery offers an alternative to postoperative drops, according to a speaker here.
A prospective cohort study of 154 eyes of 83 patients who received either a steroid-antibiotic injection during cataract surgery or postoperative drops evaluated the safety of the dropless option, Abdullah Nasser, MD, said during a paper session at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.
A total of 36 patients chose the dropless option and were administered an intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide and
Author: Healio ophthalmology
VIDEO: Pooled analysis of Rocket studies shows efficacy of Rhopressa
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting, Robert Fechtner, MD, discusses the findings of a pooled analysis of more than 800 patients in the Rocket 1, 2 and 4 clinical trials of Aerie Pharmaceuticals’ Rhopressa (netarsudil ophthalmic solution 0.02%) in comparison with timolol.
VIDEO: Tips for improving MIPS score, avoiding penalties
NEW ORLEANS – A practice assessment of a practice’s documentation policies is an important step that may reveal some of the reporting requirements are already being performed, or can be easily added, Shari Erickson, MPH, vice president for governmental affairs and medical practice for the American College of Physicians, told Healio Internal Medicine.
The first step for a practice is to determine if they are required to participate in the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS), as the Centers for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have raised the low (Read more...)
VIDEO: Keys to identifying ocular surface disease
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting, Marjan Farid, MD, shares pearls for identifying dry eye and meibomian gland dysfunction in patients before cataract surgery, as well as her treatment algorithm.
ACP continues to promote physician well-being, professional satisfaction
Jack Ende Susan Thompson Hingle
NEW ORLEANS — ACP provided an update of their physician well-being, professional satisfaction and “Patients before Paperwork” initiatives during a press briefing at ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting.
Improving the well-being and professional satisfaction of physicians is of “great importance” to ACP, Jack Ende, MD, president of ACP, said during the briefing.
“ACP appreciates the complexity of the problem and for that reason we are way beyond looking for a single solution,” Ende said. “We believe this is a problem
VIDEO: Khmer Sight Foundation works to eradicate treatable blindness in Cambodia
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting, Dan Z. Reinstein, MD, discusses his work with the Khmer Sight Foundation at the Dining in the Dark fundraising event here.
VIDEO: Patient satisfaction with multifocal IOLs higher when intermediate vision achieved
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting here, Frank A. Bucci Jr., MD, discusses a study comparing patient satisfaction with a bilateral +4.0 multifocal IOL vs. a bilateral +3.5 multifocal IOL.
Kamra inlay improves visual acuity in previous LASIK patients
WASHINGTON — Patients who received a Kamra inlay for presbyopia correction after previous refractive surgery were happy with the outcomes, according to a speaker here.
A retrospective chart review of 108 patients who had previously undergone refractive surgery and later received the inlay evaluated results for 2 years after surgery, Shamik Bafna, MD, said at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting. In March, SightLife Surgical, now CorneaGen, agreed to acquire the Kamra inlay from AcuFocus.
Uncorrected near visual acuity improved by about four lines in the first
ACP advocates for gender equity for physicians
Jack Ende Susan Thompson Hingle
NEW ORLEANS — ACP recently published a position paper in Annals of Internal Medicine offering recommendations on how to promote and achieve gender equity in compensation and career advancement within the medical profession.
In a press briefing at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, ACP leaders, including Jack Ende, MD, president of ACP, Susan Thompson Hingle, MD, chair of ACP’s Board of Regents, Darilyn Moyer, MD, executive VP and CEO of ACP, and Sue S. Bornstein, MD, chair of ACP’s Health and Public Policy Committee, discussed (Read more...)
VIDEO: First experience with new IOL technology shows numerous benefits
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting here, Dee Stephenson, MD, discusses her first in the world experience implanting the enVista MX60E IOL with StableFlex technology from Bausch + Lomb.
ReSTOR 2.5 combined with ReSTOR 3.0 reduces glare and halos, need for computer glasses
John A. Hovanesian
WASHINGTON — Patients who underwent cataract surgery and received a ReSTOR 2.5 D multifocal IOL in their dominant eye and a ReSTOR 3.0 D IOL in the fellow eye reported less of a need for computer glasses and less halo and glare compared with patients who received a ReSTOR 3.0 D IOL in both eyes, according to a speaker here.
A questionnaire was administered to patients who had undergone cataract surgery with bilateral ReSTOR IOLs (Alcon). The study included 89 patients who received 2.5 D and 3.0 (Read more...)
VIDEO: Compounding critical to patient care in ophthalmology
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting here, Bret L. Fisher, MD, discusses the importance of compounding pharmacies in offering patients affordable, safe and effective medications in eye care.
Allergan will not bid for Shire
Allergan announced it will not make an offer for Shire.
The company will continue to evaluate its potential strategic actions, according to a press release.
Allergan will not bid for Shire plc, the company announced. Source: Shutterstock
In an earlier release, Allergan responded to media speculation regarding a possible offer by saying it would announce its intentions before the May 17 deadline under the U.K. Takeover Code.
Takeda, a Japanese-based pharmaceutical firm, offered to acquire Shire for 46.50 pounds per share. However, Shire’s board rejected the proposal.
Allergan considers bid for Shire
Allergan is considering a possible offer for Shire and is evaluating a range of potential strategic actions, the company announced in a press release.No offer has been made, and there is no certainty an offer will be made, the company said in response …
Doctors, patients benefit when the ‘eyes’ have it
NEW ORLEANS — Maintaining as much eye contact with patients as possible improves doctors’ relationships with their patients, reduces the time spent on EHRs outside patient settings and improves one’s ‘computer-side manner,’ according to a presenter at the American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting.
“Eye contact is a very big predictor of a good patient-doctor relationship. The computer can be seen as a distraction, a new sort of third-party in the room,” Wei Wei Lee MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago told
VIDEO: Simplified technique effective for Urrets-Zavalia syndrome
WASHINGTON ― At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting here, Priya Narang, MS, describes the single-pass four-throw pupilloplasty technique in patients with Urrets-Zavalia syndrome.
Hydrus reduces IOP in comparison trial
David F. Chang
WASHINGTON — Data from the COMPARE trial for the Hydrus microstent vs. two iStents as a stand-alone treatment for open-angle glaucoma showed some advantages for the Hydrus, according to a speaker here.
“In the comparison, Hydrus was statistically superior in lowering the medication count, the number of eyes that were completely medication free at a year, the number of eyes in terms of preventing them from requiring three or more medications, and then in addition reducing the IOP by an additional 20%,” David F. Chang, MD, said (Read more...)
ACP calls for revision of physician performance measurements
Jack Ende
In Medicare’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System, or MIPS, most ambulatory internal medicine quality measures are not compliant with ACP criteria, according to ACP in a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“ACP has long supported and advocated improving performance measures so they help physicians provide the best possible care to their patients without creating unintended adverse consequences,” Jack Ende, MD, president of ACP, said in a press release.
To address physicians’ concerns that current performance measures do not meaningfully
Toric extended depth of focus IOL improves binocular uncorrected near visual acuity
Eric D. Donnenfeld
WASHINGTON — A nanovision strategy using extended depth of focus toric IOLs improved binocular near visual acuity in patients undergoing routine bilateral cataract surgery more than a plano strategy, according to a study presented here.
“Binocular near vision was better in the nanovision group. Nanovision, or –0.5 D of monovision in the nondominant eye, appears to improve near vision without decreasing vision at distance or intermediate in binocular vision studies,” Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, said at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery
FDA releases action plan for medical device safety, innovation
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, announced the launch of the Medical Device Safety Action Plan, which outlines how the FDA can continue to enhance programs and processes to assure the safety of medical devices.
“Our aim is to make sure that the new advances in technology that are enabling better capabilities and benefits are also harnessed to bring added assurances of safety, so that more patients can benefit from new devices and address unmet needs,” Gottlieb said in a statement.
The five areas of focus of the plan include efforts (Read more...)