INTERESTING EYE NEWS & CLINICAL PEARLS

This double-masked conjunctival allergen challenge (CAC) study found no significant difference in the mean itching scores between two drops of olopatadine 0.1% and one drop of olopatadine 0.2%

From a 2004 National Eye Institute Clinical Study: For moderate amblyopia, prescribing daily atropine provides an improvement in visual acuity that is of similar magnitude to the improvement produced by prescribing weekend atropine in children 3 to less than 7 years of age.

Post-laser refractive surgery complication identified in study one possible complication of refractive surgery is central toxic keratopathy,a noninflammatory central corneal opacification that can occur within 9 days of surgery, lasts between 2 to 18 months, can cause a hyperopic shift of more than 2 D, and clears on it's own.

Meta-analytic study shows antioxidants do not prevent AMD In contrast to other studies : " Consuming dietary antioxidants or antioxidant supplements does not appear to prevent early age-related macular degeneration , according to a study by researchers in Australia."

Prior retinal vein occlusion associated with increased risk of pseudophakic CME Patients with a history of retinal vein occlusion , epiretinal membrane or prostaglandin use may have an increased risk of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema, according to a study by Massachusetts researchers. However, "patients did not have an increased risk for CME when treated with prophylactic postoperative NSAIDs for 3 months," the authors said.

Dietary carbohydrate and the progression of age-re...[Am J Clin Nutr. 2007] - PubMed Result Optometric Physician summarizes this study: " Limiting carbohydrates in the diet may help slow the progression of AMD , according to this recent study from Tufts University. Results showed that those who consumed the greatest amount of refined carbohydrates were 17 percent more likely to develop blinding AMD than the group that consumed the least. Based on this data, the investigators believe that limiting dietary refined carbohydrates in at-risk elderly people could reduce the number of advanced AMD cases by 8 percent in five years. The authors note, however, that their findings warrant randomized controlled clinical trials."

SOURCE: Santodomingo-Rubido J, Wolffsohn JS, Gilmartin B. Adverse events and discontinuations during 18 months of silicone hydrogel contact lens wear. Eye Contact Lens 2007;33(6; Pt 1):288-92. According to a review of this study: "Lotrafilcon A lenses (Night & Day) were associated with a higher incidence of adverse (infiltrative) events than balafilcon A lenses (Purevision) were. Subjects wearing lenses on a daily-wear basis had fewer adverse events than did subjects wearing lenses on a continuous-wear basis. Both lens types and wearing regimens showed a similar incidence of discontinuations."

SOURCE: Tyhurst K, McNett R, Bennett E. The safety and efficacy of contact lens wear in the industrial and chemical workplace. Optom 2007;78(11):596-604. Contact lens wear is banned in many industrial and chemical work environments. However, research has shown that contact lenses typically provide protective benefits that decrease the severity of ocular injury and improve worker performance.

Thin preop corneal thickness not linked to post-LASIK keratectasia According to this study: "LASIK patients with a preoperative central corneal thickness of 500 µm or less do not have an increased risk of postoperative keratectasia" Interesting, but I'd like to see further studies before eliminating central corneal thickness in determining candidacy for LASIK.

Investigators identify new vascular factors predictive of glaucoma progression According to this study, patients with systolic blood pressure below 125mmHg and with history of cardiovascular disease had higher risk of developing COAG. Other factors are addressed as well.