COPENHAGEN — Technology and informatics are going to change the future of the operating room, leading to precise, efficient digitally assisted surgery. The revolution is already underway, Pravin U. Dugel, MD, said at the Euretina meeting here. “It is all about closing the loop between what we see in the office, where we have OCT, photographs, angiograms, ultrasound and multispectral imaging, and what we see in the OR, where at the moment we go blind to surgery,” he said.
Author: Healio ophthalmology
AcuFocus receives $66 million in funding from KKR
COPENHAGEN — AcuFocus received a private investment of approximately $66 million from global investment firm KKR, the company announced in a press release.AcuFocus will use the financing to accelerate its commercialization plans for the Kamra corneal inlay and IC-8 IOL, in addition to research and development projects, according to the release.
Increasing evidence proves value, reliability and benefits of OCT angiography
COPENHAGEN — OCT angiography is establishing itself as a reliable, easy to perform, noninvasive tool for the evaluation of disease progression and treatment-related improvement in retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion. “Two studies, one published by our group and one by the group of David Sarraf, have recently demonstrated that the information and results provided by OCTA and fluorescein angiography are virtually the same. This is a very important achievement because we have proved that we can trust the method,” Gabriel Coscas, MD, (Read more...)
CMS: ‘Pick your pace’ for MACRA 2017 reporting
CMS has released a list of data reporting options for the first year of the Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, allowing physicians to test the new initiative by submitting only some information, or submittin…
VIDEO: PiXL may be a new refractive option for low myopes
COPENHAGEN — At the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting here, Rajesh K. Rajpal, MD, chief medical officer for Avedro, discussed the potential treatment of photorefractive intrastromal cross-linking, or PiXL, for correcting low myopia.
Study: Chronic inflammation of familial Mediterranean fever affects choroidal thickness
COPENHAGEN — Chronic inflammation might have an effect on thinning of the choroid, according to a speaker here.In a study of 50 patients with familial Mediterranean fever gene mutation and 50 control subjects, Tolga Biçer, MD, and colleagues found statistically significant differences in choroidal thickness between the two groups in central and nasal measurements.
Study pioneers implantation of Argus II in patients with advanced dry AMD
COPENHAGEN — The Argus II retinal prosthesis system implanted in patients with dry age-related macular degeneration proved effective in re-establishing visual function in the area of geographic atrophy, blending well with the residual peripheral vision, according to a study. Paulo Stanga, MD, pioneered this new application of the Argus II (Second Sight), the implant that proved over 10 years to provide stable visual improvement, up to 20/800, in patients with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The randomized, prospective study, carried out at Manchester Eye Hospital, U.K., has so far recruited five (Read more...)
VIDEO: AcuFocus announces launch of IC-8 small aperture IOL at ESCRS
COPENHAGEN — At the Ophthalmology Futures Forum, Nicholas Tarantino, chief clinical and regulatory officer and head of research and development for AcuFocus, announced the European launch of the IC-8 small aperture IOL during the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting. The IC-8 is a single-piece hydrophobic acrylic IOL with an opaque mask 3.23 mm in diameter, which creates a 1.36 mm aperture. The IOL is placed in the non-dominant eye for the correction of presbyopia. “Because of its small aperture size, it has a very large depth of (Read more...)
Aerie Pharmaceuticals submits NDA for Rhopressa
Aerie Pharmaceuticals submitted a new drug application to the FDA for Rhopressa, a once-daily eye drop designed to lower IOP in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension.The application includes results of the Rocket 1 and Rocket 2 studies, the fir…
Adherence may be most important factor for glaucoma treatment
Age, the sex of a patient and the type of treatment are among the most significant factors that can influence a patient’s adherence to glaucoma therapy.Ophthalmologists and optometrists who understand how certain factors can affect adherence to glaucoma treatment can take steps to ensure their patients actively follow the therapy regimen prescribed to them, Norbert Pfeiffer, MD, said at the European Glaucoma Society congress.
Laser trabeculoplasty may not provide glaucoma-specific cost savings
Laser trabeculoplasty did not reduce reliance on glaucoma medications or costs associated with glaucoma treatment, according to a study.The retrospective administrative claims analysis involved medical and pharmacy claims data from 4,743 patients with …
32nd APAO Congress to be held in March
Chaired by Prof. Tin Aung and co-chaired by Prof. Clement Tham, the scientific program for the 32nd APAO Congress features 16 subspecialties. Formation of the Scientific Program Committee, which includes leading experts from the Asia-Pacific region and…
Allergan acquires RetroSense Therapeutics
Allergan acquired all assets of RetroSense Therapeutics and global rights to RST-001, a novel gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa, the companies announced in a press release.Allergan paid RetroSense an initial cash payment of $60 million and agreed t…
Guy Knolle Jr., MD, FACS, dies at age 80
Ophthalmic innovator, author and mentor Guy Edmund Knolle Jr., MD, FACS, died on Aug. 30 at age 80.Knolle was born and raised in Houston. He obtained a bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas at Austin and earned a medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans in 1962.
Publication Exclusive: Taking a closer look at persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous
Persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous, or PHPV, is a form of persistent fetal vasculature, first described by Reese in 1955. The exact etiology of PHPV remains unknown, but it characteristically presents as unilateral leukocoria. PHPV is divided int…
Allergan CEO commits to responsible drug pricing ideals
Allergan CEO and President Brent Saunders believes in a “social contract” that balances the cost of developing new medications with affordability. In a blog post on the Allergan website, Saunders noted that companies that aggressively raise prices on medications or needed items have “violated this social contract.”
Eyes with macular retinoschisis respond poorly to early ranibizumab injections
Myopic eyes with macular retinoschisis and choroidal neovascularization responded poorly to intravitreal ranibizumab after 3 months of treatment, according to a study from the University of Bern.More Lucentis (ranibizumab, Genentech) injections were ne…
National Institutes of Health to fund six neural regeneration projects for $12.4 million
The National Institutes of Health announced it will fund six projects for $12.4 million over 3 years to identify biological factors that affect neural regeneration in the retina. The funding and projects are part of the National Eye Institute’s Audacious Goals Initiative. The initiative’s goal is to restore vision by regenerating neurons and their connections in the eye and visual system, according to a press release.
Publication Exclusive: Two-year-old girl presents with poor vision, nystagmus and bilateral optic nerve pallor
A 2-year-old girl presented to the New England Eye Center because her parents were concerned about her eyesight. Her parents noticed that she was holding her toys close to her face and that she seemed to have trouble tracking objects. They observed tha…
Physicians spend nearly 50% of their time on EHR, desk work
During office hours, physicians spent 27% of their time providing direct clinical face time to patients, according to data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.Physicians also spend almost 50% of their time on electronic health records and desk…