Author: Healio ophthalmology

Bonnie An Henderson, MD, takes place as next ASCRS president

LOS ANGELES — Kerry D. Solomon, MD, ended his year-long presidency of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and welcomed Bonnie An Henderson, MD, to take his place as the next ASCRS president.“No other organization comes close to what ASCRS can offer, but I want to build on what has been done and continue to grow this educational resource,” Henderson said at the ASCRS meeting.

Premium IOLs for glaucoma patients are advantageous, but patient selection is key

LOS ANGELES — Glaucoma patients can be successful candidates for premium IOLs, but patient selection and accurate preoperative measurements are necessities for success, according to a speaker here. “Premium IOLs, especially toric IOLs, offer advantages, but patient selection is key. Accurate preoperative measurements and modern IOL formulas are essential. You must keep up to date. You must know the differences between the different formulas,” Richard A. Lewis, MD, said at Glaucoma Subspecialty Day preceding the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

FDA clears Pentacam, Aladdin topographers for integration with Lensar system

LOS ANGELES — The FDA has granted 510(k) clearances for integration of the Oculus Pentacam HR and Pentacam AXL, and the Topcon Aladdin topographer with the Lensar Laser System with Streamline III, according to a Lensar press release.The approvals build on the system’s open architecture design, which “allows surgeons to use the diagnostic devices they trust to guide treatment and manage astigmatism using our laser’s exclusive features,” Lensar CEO Nick Curtis said in the release.

VIDEO: Significant differences seen between generic, name-brand drugs after cataract surgery

LOS ANGELES – Patients who used generic NSAIDs demonstrated significantly more erythema, more corneal staining and a shorter tear breakup time than those who used brand name products, John Hovanesian, MD, FACS, reported at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting here. A recent study of 200 patients compared the once-daily Ilevro (nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.3%, Alcon) with four-times-daily ketorolac.

VIDEO: SightLife Surgical announces two major partnerships

LOS ANGELES – SightLife Surgical announced partnerships with Imprimis and Shigeru Kinoshita, MD, PhD, President and CEO Monty Montoya said at the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit at ASCRS here. Under the Imprimis agreement the companies will work together to offer autologous Serum Tears across the United States. The latter agreement will bring Kinoshita’s corneal blindness treatment to the U.S.

Antibiotic resistance seen as problematic in Asian study of infectious keratitis

LOS ANGELES — Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem in many Asian countries, one speaker reported in a presentation on lessons learned from the Asia Cornea Society Infectious Keratitis Study.The aim of the multicenter, prospective, observational study launched in eight Asian countries was to determine the causes of infectious keratitis, to track the types of organisms and to determine the antibiotic resistance patterns, Donald Tan, MD, told colleagues at Cornea Subspecialty Day preceding the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

Visual impairment associated with congenital Zika syndrome

LOS ANGELES — Babies presenting with congenital Zika syndrome can have significant visual impairment, regardless of whether they have other ocular findings, Camila Ventura, MD, said at Cornea Subspecialty Day preceding the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.“Regardless of ocular findings, all of the babies that were examined presented significant visual impairment, which means that probably the visual impairment is related to the cortical findings,” Ventura said.

Some retinal complications can be managed before lens surgery

LOS ANGELES — The most common retinal complications after modern lens surgery can be treated, managed or even avoided with the correct preoperative examination, according to a presenter here. “This is a plea to look at these patients with OCT. It’s absolutely crucial,” Steve Charles, MD, said at Refractive Subspecialty Day preceding the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

Several strategies can help surgeons improve LASIK outcomes

LOS ANGELES — There are several techniques and strategies that can help improve outcomes after LASIK surgery, according to a speaker here.“One, be wary of presbyopic patients. If we had our ideal patient, we’d pick someone who is 30 years old. The presbyopic patients, you have to deal with the counseling of the readers, trying to figure out what to do with distance, middle, intermediate, and that borderline process of trying to decide on natural lens replacement vs. LASIK,” David R. Hardten, MD, said at Refractive Subspecialty Day preceding the (Read more...)

SightLife works to enhance access to corneal tissue in remote areas

LOS ANGELES — Policy changes are needed in developing countries to bridge the gap between supply and demand for eye tissue.“Access to tissue is king,” Claire Bonilla, chief global officer at SightLife, said at Cornea Subspecialty Day preceding the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting, where she addressed “how to build capability to eliminate corneal blindness in developing countries.”

White House budget proposal slashes funding for drug control office by 95%

The fiscal 2018 budget developed by President Donald J. Trump would all but eliminate funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the agency spearheading the fight against the national opioid epidemic, according to a report from Politico.The White House’s budget proposal allots $24 million for fiscal 2018, a 95% decrease from the $388 million in federal funds the office received in 2017.

TearScience introduces disposable activator for LipiFlow system

LOS ANGELES — TearScience has introduced the LipiFlow Activator II, a disposable version of the Activator, part of the LipiFlow system for treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction.“We’ve been able to remove the head from the cable on our disposable in order to save a significant amount of medical waste and also give us some pricing flexibility on our disposable,” Joe Boorady, president and CEO of TearScience, told Healio.com/OSN during the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit here.

Avedro implements reimbursement pathway for cross-linking products

LOS ANGELES — Avedro has undertaken an initiative to secure coverage and support reimbursement for its cross-linking system for treatment of keratoconus and corneal disease.“Our plan going forward is to expand the market for keratoconus,” Reza Zadno, president and CEO of Avedro, told Healio.com/OSN during the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit here. Securing such reimbursement would advance that goal by allowing greater patient access to the treatment.

VIDEO: TearLab introduces TearLab Discovery, its next generation platform

LOS ANGELES ― Seph Jensen, CEO of TearLab, discusses the introduction of the company’s newest platform called TearLab Discovery, which the company is working to launch. But Jensen said at the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit here that the company will structure pricing in a way that should not discourage customers from purchasing the current technology.