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2019 year in review: Fight blindness
Take a quick look back at the past year while anticipating what is to come in 2020.
As I approach 6 years straight of writing this monthly Premium Channel column, my favorite time of the year is my annual Top 10 list. As premium surgeons, we strive every day to fight blindness no matter the specialty, so I hope you enjoy my year in review for 2019. I would like to thank the entire Ocular Surgery News/Healio team for keeping me in line and on time as I reach my 72nd Premium Channel column.
No. 10. Turf, led by Sean Hanlon and Steve Nasson, provides an excellent opportunity for enhanced referral services from surrounding ODs in each practice’s geographic location. The software program, called Radius, gives unique intel detail about referring ODs, so relationships with each referring practice remain copacetic.
No. 9. Lotemax SM (loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic gel 0.38%, Bausch + Lomb) was FDA approved for pain and inflammation following ocular surgery, with its submicron particle size delivery system dissolving faster in tears and getting into the aqueous at twice the concentration as its predecessor, Lotemax Gel 0.5%. I like to say the SM stands for “small but mighty.”
No. 8. Surgical heads-up 3D displays at the time of cataract or any ocular surgery take the place of having to look through a microscope. I recently demoed Ngenuity (Alcon) and felt like I saw better in the eye and had less dry eye myself at the end of a long cataract surgery day. Having undergone lower back spinal fusion in the past, this setup made me feel much better as well. Artevo is the Zeiss system that will be able to incorporate ORA and other devices onto its viewing screen in the future to bring ergonomics to the next level.
No. 7. Darrell White’s personal blog, Random Thought from a Restless Mind, on drdarrellwhite.com and his The Dry Eye column in Ocular Surgery News have been a favorite of mine all year.
No. 6. The enVista toric (Bausch + Lomb) is the newest faster-unfolding monofocal toric IOL, with 96% rotational stability and easy-to-read pseudophakic axis alignment intraoperatively with devices such as ORA (Alcon) due to its faster unfolding material.
No. 5. Dextenza (Ocular Therapeutix) received a newer FDA approval as the first corticosteroid dexamethasone 0.4 mg intracanalicular insert for the treatment of pain and now inflammation following ocular surgery. Dexamethasone is delivered to the ocular surface for up to 30 days without preservatives.
No. 4. The PanOptix and PanOptix toric IOLs (Alcon) received FDA approval as the first trifocal IOL in the U.S. In the FDA trials, high patient satisfaction was achieved, with more than 90% of PanOptix patients saying they would choose the same lens again.
No. 3. Lensar has streamlined capability for toric IOL alignment with any toric IOL based on preoperative measurements with either OPD-Scan III (Marco/Nidek), Cassini (i-Optics) and/or Pentacam HR/AXL (Oculus) and adjustment for iris registration by placing L notches in the anterior capsule. Parallax error is essentially eliminated, and the need for toric IOL realignment in the immediate postoperative period is easier as well, if needed.
No. 2. Celebrate life. As the holidays wind down, remember to continue to celebrate life and give back where you can. I am looking forward to my upcoming mission trip to Cambodia.
No. 1. Fight Blindness, the DJMJ event at The Warfield Theater in San Francisco during the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, was a great success, hosted by CEDARS/ASPENS to raise money for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, led by chief operating officer Jason Menzo. “Fight blindness” was my personal theme for all of 2019.
May all my premium surgeon and industry friends have a prosperous 2020. I look forward to Allergan’s new presbyopia eye drop treatment and Eyevance’s Nexagon persistent epithelial defect treatment in the upcoming year. And a final special thanks to my second fellow, Gabriela Trabal, MD, for keeping me sane and doing great work with our Jacksoneye patients. Stay safe, my friends.
- For more information:
- Mitchell A. Jackson, MD, can be reached at Jacksoneye, 300 N. Milwaukee Ave., Suite L, Lake Villa, IL 60046; email: mjlaserdoc@msn.com.
Disclosure: Jackson reports he is a consultant for Bausch + Lomb, Eyevance, Allergan, Lensar, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Alcon and Ocular Therapeutix.