Ophthalmology

David Eichenbaum, MD, an ophthalmologist from Florida, presented data from the HARBOR study at the 34th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS 2016) in San Francisco, California.

Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, who served as FDA Commissioner and CMS Administrator, will be the keynote speaker at the fall meeting of the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, presented by The American Journal of Managed Care. The meeting will be October 20-21, 2016, in Philadelphia.

A Danish electronic records review found that the need for Eylea or Lucentis injections for wet age-related macular degeneration did not change after cataract surgery. Also, vision improved more when the time from last injection to cataract surgery was shorter than when it was longer.

Lucentis can improve DME that has proven resistant to laser therapy, Trivaris, and Avastin, according to a retrospective review of chart data from the Indianapolis University School of Medicine.

Successfully measuring the eye pressure of people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) indicated to scientists for the first time a relationship between sleep apnea and glaucoma.

Patients in the open-label extension phase of RIDE/RISE who needed Lucentis less frequently tended to have less advanced diabetic macular edema (DME) at extension baseline and to respond better to initial treatment, according to post hoc analysis. These results suggest that earlier treatment of center-involving DME with loss of visual acuity may decrease its long-term treatment burden.

The rate of endophthalmitis after more than 90,000 intravitreal injections was found to be approximately 1 in 3000 in a retrospective study of a consecutive series of cases at a multicenter, retina-only practice. Prophylactic use of topical antibiotics was not found to decrease this rate.

Although intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents has become the therapeutic mainstay for diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration, it poses a risk of noninfectious uveitis or infectious endopthalmitis.

A retrospective chart review study showed that the location of subfoveal fibrovascular scarring in relation to the retinal pigment epithelium correlated with visual outcome in eyes successfully treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

The FDA approved a new medication for dry eye disease, the first product in a new class of drugs called lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1.

Regular users of oral bisphosphonates had a higher risk of developing wet age-related macular degeneration than non-users, according to results of a recent Canadian study, and the longer the use, the greater the increased risk.

Boosting the potency of broccoli-related compound indole-3-carbinol (I3C) ten-fold, proved to be a viable treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Intraocular injections of methotrexate have been used successfully to treat indeterminate and sarcoid uveitis as well as age-related macular degeneration. Methotrexate injection’s record of success in treating these inflammatory eye diseases prompted researchers to evaluate its efficacy in treating persistent diabetic macular edema.

Placement of the Ozurdex sustained-release dexamethasone implant in 29 patients with persistent diabetic macular edema resulted in a significant improvement in visual acuity and a significant decrease in central macular thickness 6 months after implantation.

The FDA approved a corneal implant to correct near-sightedness.

Patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration have shown a suboptimal response to ranibizumab over time. Several studies have established that switching from ranibizumab to aflibercept enhanced visual acuity and resulted in anatomic improvement in many of these patients, but the factors determining visual outcomes remained unclear.

The introduction of anti-VEGF drugs should have prevented vision loss and even blindness in many diabetics. But physicians are not using these drugs as frequently as researchers recommend, a study finds.

Cold hard facts remain absent on if cataract surgery leads progression in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be treated with intravitreal ranibizumab or intravitreal aflibercept. Researchers in Japan found they are equivalent in terms of how long patients can go before retreatment, but that one confers better vision than the other.

High-density lipoproteins have long been believed to play a role in the development of age-related macular degeneration. What about HDL?

Genetic factors are at work in determining who gets age-related macular degeneration, and its progression, a German team reported.

In patients diagnosed with psoriasis, disease severity has been strongly associated with developing a higher risk of comorbidities affecting the kidney, liver, and pancreas.

Choosing the right drug can be a difficult decision, as cost-effectiveness and positive outcomes vary between aflibercept, bevacizumab, and ranibizumab.

Study results show that patients with diabetic macular edema are more likely to improve with treatment by a combination of ranibizumab and AKB-9778, as compared to treatment with either alone.

Five years of treatment with anti-VEGF (anti-vascular endothelial growth factor) drugs seems to hold considerable promise for those with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

A phase III study that examined teriflunomide (Aubagio) in a subtype of patients with multiple sclerosis was presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Center (CMSC) in National Harbor, Maryland.

The chronic vision damaged caused by multiple sclerosis may be reversed by using clemastine fumarate, an over-the-counter drug used to treat allergies and colds.

Ophthalmology has made great strides in recent years treating many of the more commonly seen conditions, but work is being done to address some of the more rare problems, as well.

Even a decade ago the technology used in diagnosis for ophthalmology was still developing. In that time work has been done to improve the ways doctors can see the potential problems their patients may have to provide a higher level of care.

A condition like chronic traumatic encephalopathy is only able to be diagnosed now after a patient has already died. New technology is being developed to help patients while they are still alive. These new techniques could also be used to help other conditions as well.