CK improved presbyopia at 1-year postop in FDA trial

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Conductive keratoplasty can be effective for improving near vision in patients with presbyopia, according to results of a Food and Drug Administration study presented here.

Daniel S. Durrie, MD, reported 12-month outcomes in presbyopic patients treated with conductive keratoplasty (CK) using the ViewPoint CK System (Refractec Inc.) in a poster presentation at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting. According to the study, 84% of patients achieved near vision of J3 or better postoperatively.

CK is currently approved in the United States as a treatment for low to moderate hyperopia. The present trial evaluated CK for correcting presbyopic patients with refractive errors ranging from +0.75 D to +3 D with up to 0.75 D of cylinder.

The trial included 150 patients ages 44 to 71 years. At 12 months follow-up, 98% of patients reported a subjective improvement in vision, and 84% reported being able to read fine newspaper print. Overall, 83% of patients achieved uncorrected distance vision of 20/20 with concurrent J3 near vision.

According to the study, at 12 months, no patients lost more than two lines of best corrected visual acuity, experienced an increase in residual cylinder or maintained a visual acuity of 20/40 or worse.

Regarding patient satisfaction, Dr. Durrie reported that 96% of patients were satisfied, very satisfied or neutral about their quality of vision at 1 year.