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Team approach, patient selection will be key to success of implantable telescope
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CHICAGO — The success of the recently approved implantable telescope for use in patients with end-stage age-related macular degeneration will depend on careful patient selection and a team-based approach to patient management, according to a speaker here.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Implantable Miniature Telescope (VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies) earlier this year, and it is currently under review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Jeffrey S. Heier, MD, said at Retina Subspecialty Day at the joint meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology.
Clinical testing demonstrated that the implantable telescope offers significant benefit to patients with little recourse for vision recovery. However, Dr. Heier said, it is recommended that patients who get the implant should be managed by a team of specialists that includes the retina practitioner, corneal specialists to aid with implantation and low-vision specialists to assist with the postoperative vision rehabilitation and training.
Whether patients see a benefit from the device will also hinge on appropriate patient selection, Dr. Heier said.
"This has the potential to offer patients who currently have very few options the ability or the potential for improved vision," Dr. Heier said. "When performed in the right patients, it can be life changing."