Comanagement News

PHILADELPHIA — A choroidal melanoma therapy has been shown to reduce tumor thickness and preserve best corrected visual acuity in patients participating in a phase 1b/2 study, according to a speaker here.

PHILADELPHIA — Vitreoretinal lymphoma patients with subretinal pigment epithelial infiltration had a shorter survival time while those who were younger than 55 years had a longer survival rate, a study found.

NEW ORLEANS – A panel here at the Ophthalmic Innovation Summit, held during SECO, recognized the dramatic advances made in the field of glaucoma technology and therapeutics but also recognized the challenges with implementation.

California Health Policy Strategies announced in a policy brief that the California Optometric Association partnership with Anthem Blue Cross Medi-Cal Health Plan and various community health centers across California has been effective in connecting diabetes patients with comprehensive diabetes care and treatment.

In this column, I continue to review and highlight current and emerging trends in cataract surgery.

ATHENS, Greece — Greece has more than 200 inhabited islands, poorly connected with the mainland, where prevalently older people live to an advanced age. Many of them could benefit from an invention of Iordanis Chatziangelidis, MD: a remotely controlled slit lamp that will allow islanders to be examined by an ophthalmologist at a distance, saving on expensive and cumbersome traveling.

Results from the phase 3 OPTIC study showed more patients treated with teprotumumab had a meaningful improvement in proptosis compared with those who received placebo.

NEW ORLEANS – The College of Optometrists in Vision Development and the Neuro Optometric Rehabilitation Association issued a joint call-to-action at SECO for all health care professionals to consider the need for medical and/or functional optometric rehabilitation for patients who have suffered a traumatic brain injury due to stroke, tumor, aneurism, meningitis, cerebral palsy or other neurological conditions.

“What’s the very first thing you want to know before you are about to see a new patient referred for cataract surgery?”

Brooks Alldredge, OD, FAAO: The first question to answer is how important it is to each individual patient to wear eyeglasses as little as possible after cataract surgery. If achieving spectacle freedom is not a goal or not desired or the extra cost is prohibitive, then I reassure those patients that their vision will be just as good as if they didn’t correct the astigmatism with surgery – they will simply need glasses to do so.