University Of California Los Angeles

Systemic sclerosis was linked to alterations in the gut microbiota, according to recently published findings.

The idea seems reasonable: introduce a variable into lens power calculations in order to fine-tune the results and improve accuracy. The A-constant, which is a bit of a misnomer because it is a variable and not actually a constant, can help provide a way to adjust based on the IOL type — including refractive index and lens geometry — IOL position, calibration of biometry devices and even surgeon technique. Once this is honed for a particular surgeon and IOL, it can be used to adjust all IOL calculations for that surgeon so that, as a whole, all of the eyes undergoing cataract surgery can achieve a more myopic or more hyperopic outcome.

Researchers of this systematic review and meta-analysis found spinal manipulative therapy was linked with small improvements in pain and function for up to 6 weeks in patients with acute low back pain.

Compared with placebo, treatment with mycophenolate was linked with improvements in physiologic measures and dyspnea in patients with systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease, according to recently published data.

With the advent of OCT, we can examine the retina, particularly the macula, in high resolution before cataract surgery. This is important because the cataract may not be the sole cause of visual impairment, and patients need to have appropriate expectations set before cataract surgery.

New ophthalmology residents sometimes mistakenly think that performing a surgery quickly is the key to doing more cases in a day. On the contrary, rushing a surgical procedure can result in a higher complication rate and less desirable outcomes, which will actually lower efficiency. Improving efficiency in the operating room is a multistep process that can result in the ability to help more patients per day while maintaining a high degree of safety and achieving excellent visual outcomes. This is particularly important for cataract surgery because the volume of cases is expected to increase to new highs.

The Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network is making real-world impacts on the way physicians treat and manage diabetes-related eye conditions.

ATLANTA — Black children were six times more likely to die from asthma than either white or Hispanic children, regardless of whether death occurred in the hospital, the emergency department or clinics, or at home, according to data presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Healthy adults randomly assigned 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 supplementation gained faster and greater increases in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels vs. those assigned standard vitamin D3 supplementation, according to recent findings.

A large meta-analysis of many years’ worth of LASIK studies showed that 99.5% of patients achieved an uncorrected vision of 20/40 or better and 91% of patients achieved 20/20 or better. These 91% of patients were corrected to within ±0.5 D of plano or the intended target. In comparison, cataract surgery is not nearly as good, with only about 60% of patients achieving the same result. Published guidelines for cataract surgeons list 55% as the appropriate target. Surely, we can do better than this.