Drivers with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who used a small, spectacle-mounted bioptic telescope reported fewer self-imposed driving restrictions when compared with drivers with AMD who did not use the telescope. Alex R. Bowers, PhD, MCOptom, of the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, noted that drivers with AMD who used the telescope drove greater distances and to more paces and reported fewer difficulties in potentially challenging situations, such as night driving, heavy traffic, or rain.
Vitrectomy with drainage of cystoid spaces is being evaluated as a new surgical treatment for patients with chronic cystoid diabetic macular edema (DME) who are unresponsive to other interventions and who have minimal or no leakage on fluorescein angiography and good foveal capillary perfusion, said Hilel Lewis, MD, director, Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH.
The central role of blood-retinal-barrier breakdown in the development of diabetic macular edema provides a rationale for exploring the use of corticosteroids as a treatment option, said Glen J. Jaffe, MD, professor of ophthalmology, Duke University Eye Center, Durham, NC.
There is no difference in the prevalence of amblyopia and strabismus in a population of Hispanic and African-American children preschool children and the prevalence of the two pathologies increases with age, according to Rohit Varma, MD, MPH, from the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles.
Wolfgang Drexler, PhD, was instrumental in the development of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and has contributed significantly to advances such as ultra high-resolution OCT. But befitting someone who is recognized for his future promise as well as his prior accomplishments, Dr. Drexler has no shortage of ideas for enhancing OT's value as a clinical and research tool. Dr. Drexler, professor of biomedical engineering at Cardiff University, Wales, received the Cogan Award Tuesday night.
Primary bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) therapy for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration resulted in two to three ETDRS lines of improvement, which is similar to that with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech). Bevacizumab rescue therapy administered following treatment with pegaptanib (Macugen, OSI/Eyetech, Pfizer Ophthalmics) resulted in minimal improvement, said William Freeman, MD, from the Department of Ophthalmology, Shiley Eye Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
Ilene Gipson, PhD, received the Friedenwald Award for her seminal contributions to basic and clinical understanding of wound healing, epithelial anchorage and mucin biology in the areas of ocular surface and cornea research.
A new model for latex bead injections demonstrates that this is a viable approach to increasing IOP and inducing loss of retinal ganglion cells in rats, said Rebecca M. Sappington, PhD, research fellow, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Nashville.
While there are extensive data supporting the concept that antiVEGF agents may have a role in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), emerging knowledge about DME pathogenesis is suggesting alternate therapeutic targets and new paradigms for multidrug treatment, said Lloyd P. Aiello, MD, PhD, director, Beetham Eye Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston.
