Source: osnsupersite.com 

Q\Patients receiving a fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant for noninfectious uveitis had a significantly high risk for increased IOP that often necessitated surgical intervention, a study found. 

http://bit.ly/vGik5x

Source: modernmedicine.com 

Ocriplasmin (microplasmin, ThromboGenics) injected into the vitreous may be another option for treating symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion and macular holes. One injection of the drug seems to weaken the strength of the vitreomacular adhesion associated with pathologic posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) by targeting the fibronectin, laminin, and collagen fibers that keep the vitreous attached to the macula.

http://bit.ly/rZ2LDR

This is an important study. But I don't know how practical it would be for older patients. Walt 

Source: eurekalert.org 

Physical activity may be what the doctor orders to help patients reduce their risk of developing glaucoma. According to a recently published scientific paper, higher levels of physical exercise appear to have a long-term beneficial impact on low ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), an important risk factor for glaucoma. 

http://bit.ly/udEAkE

Wow. I love these studies that prove the absolute obvious. Walt

Source: news-medical.net

Older adults with glaucoma are at increased risk of falls resulting in injury, reports a study in the November issue of Optometry and Vision Science, official journal of the American Academy of Optometry. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

http://bit.ly/tsbaQc

OD's need to follow this. There is no reason we cannot be leaders in this area of care. Walt 

Source: news-medical.net 

Patients in the United States who have the cornea-damaging disease keratoconus may soon be able to benefit from a new treatment that is already proving effective in Europe and other parts of the world. The treatment, called collagen crosslinking, improved vision in almost 70 percent of patients treated for keratoconus in a recent three-year clinical trial in Milan, Italy. The treatment is in clinical trials in the United States and is likely to receive FDA approval in 2012. The results of the Milan study are being presented today at the 115th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Orlando, Florida. 

http://bit.ly/rpD3Uk

I think this is fascinating. The concept that phaco lowers IOP in non-diabetics, but not in patients who ARE diabetic is worth further study. The article does support further research and doesn't claim to be the end-all on this topic. Walt 

Source: Medscape News 

These findings might reflect a lack of concerted research in this area. "Not a lot has been known about postoperative IOP in diabetics. Information has been more anecdotal. A number of factors can be involved in IOP. Our study is different, in that we focused exclusively on IOP and diabetes," Dr. Park told Medscape Medical News. 

http://bit.ly/rVGt6D

I think this is pretty big news, if valid. The sample size wasn't big, and I'm far too old to remember just how to read some of the statical data. Where's my metal water bottle? Walt

Source: MedPageToday.com

In utero exposure to the organic compound bisphenol A (BPA) -- widely used in the manufacture of plastics, including cups, food containers, and even credit card receipts -- was associated with behavior disruptions at age 3, particularly among girls, researchers found. 

http://bit.ly/qDhTlw

Source: MedScape.com / AAO 2011 Annual Meeting 

"When children older than 8 years go to any ophthalmologist with amblyopia..., they will be told there is nothing that can be done for them; as a result, they will end up being handicapped. When they go to apply to college, they will be rejected, even though they may have brilliant marks," lead author Somen Ghosh, MD, an ophthalmologic surgeon from Kolkata, Bengal, India, told Medscape Medical News. "So I started thinking of some way to help those unfortunate older kids." 

http://bit.ly/p0Md1r

Thanks Dom! Walt 

Source: Cision Wire 

In this edition of the journal, Dr. Dominick M. Maino writes in his editorial, The Number of Placebo Controlled, Double Blind, Prospective, and Randomized Strabismus Surgery Outcome Clinical Trials: None!, that the science behind surgical intervention for strabismus may not be as solid as we would like to believe. 

http://bit.ly/pY9Kk1

Source: British Journal of Ophthalmology 

RNFL and macular thickness measured with the Cirrus HD OCT was affected by head tilt. Artefacts caused by head tilt should be considered in the analysis of the Cirrus HD OCT measurements. 

http://bit.ly/oavus7

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com 

The vision research community is discussing with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) how to adopt and/or implement safe and effective endpoint measures for assessing glaucoma therapies in U.S. clinical trials. The group composed of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and representatives from industry and vision associations attended a one-day symposium sponsored by the National Institutes of Health's National Eye Institute (NEI) and the FDA on Sept. 24, 2010. 

http://bit.ly/nVbpbm

Is this really a new finding? Hmmm... Walt 

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com 

"We have demonstrated for the first time that you can pay attention through one eye, even when you have no idea where the image is coming from," says Peng Zhang, who conducted the study with University of Minnesota colleagues Yi Jiang and Sheng He. And the harder that eye is working - the heavier the "informational load" - the more effectively still that eye can attend to its object. The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science. 

http://bit.ly/rv0MGT

I never like these types of studies... at least the way they are presented. Lower risk of cataracts? Don't they really mean that diet might be able to DELAY the onset? You'll still get them if you live long enough. Walt 

Source: eurekalert.org 

Women who eat foods rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals may have a lower risk of developing the most common type of cataract that occurs in the United States, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

http://bit.ly/pXCzkz 

Source: ModernMedicine.com 

An eye implant that delivers fluocinolone acetonide holds promise for chronic macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). 

http://bit.ly/pynZ8i

Source: medpagetoday.com

Nail bed vascular abnormalities had a significant association with optic disc hemorrhage and other manifestations of glaucoma, data from a Korean clinical series showed.

http://bit.ly/ri3BD3 

Source: Clinical Ophthalmology
Purpose: Evaluation of improving near vision in presbyopic patients with low to moderate myopia with selective treatment of high-order aberrations (HOAs) using the ORK-CAM software aberrometer and a SCHWIND ESIRIS excimer laser. In this study, all HOAs except vertical coma were treated and the effect on near visual function was evaluated.
http://bit.ly/oDrzgb

Source: WSJ
Excess abdominal fat increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration in middle-age men but may have the opposite effect in women, says a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
http://on.wsj.com/pUoYGj

From Centers for Eye Research Australia: ...technique could be introduced as early as 2012, will reap benefits for patients, ophthalmologists and healthcare systems alike. http://bit.ly/oJlvUZ 

Researchers' legacy to live on - Ophthalmology reflects on lasting accomplishments, contributions of Drs. Apple, Friedlaender - ModernMedicine http://bit.ly/pt3CI5 

medicalnewstoday.com: Stem Cells Harvested From Hair Follicles Used To Reconstruct Damaged Tissue For Patients Who Suffer From LSCD http://bit.ly/o8aYl7 

 

Association between hearing and vision impairments in older adults - Schneck - 2011 - Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics - Wiley Online Library http://bit.ly/oPFrHJ 
 

World-first drug could stop cataract blindness, say scientists | Daily Mail UK Online http://bit.ly/nfaFRu

Evaluation of contrast visual acuity in patients with retinitis pigmentosa http://bit.ly/obnIgW

eurekalert.org / SUNY receives $4.3 million for research in neuroscience, pediatric pharmacology and vision: http://bit.ly/mZFzU6

Experimental vaccine protects monkeys from blinding trachoma, October 10, 2011 News Release - National Institutes of Health (NIH) http://1.usa.gov/oQoGqf

Access : Emerging techniques to treat corneal neovascularisation : Eye http://bit.ly/olJ9Xe

New York Stem Cell Foundation: Professor Peter J. Coffey's stem cell therapy for Age-Related Macular Degeneration expected to begin clinical trials in 2012 http://bit.ly/poAbU8