Cataract surgery improved vision in patients with any stage–from mild to advanced– AMD in the first study to include an adequate number of advanced AMD patients. Data was obtained from the multicenter, prospective Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), which was organized primarily to evaluate the effects of high-dose vitamin and mineral supplements on cataract and AMD.

Abbott Medical Optics conducted a 250-eye study of the Tecnis multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) and measured results at three days, 30 days, 90 days, 150 days and 210 days after cataract surgery. Most of the study participants achieved their best vision after 180 days, which the researchers called a neuroadaptation period. During the last checkup, 96.8 percent of eyes could read at 20/20 (J2) without correction, with 83.2 percent reading at 20/15 (J1).

Trusted LASIK Surgeons has announced that the LASIK Laser Cataract and vision correction experts at Baylor Vision of Houston have joined the Trusted LASIK Surgeons Directory, an informational resource for consumers seeking to improve their vision through laser eye surgery or other refractive surgery procedure and to find highly qualified refractive surgeon to perform their eye surgery. The Baylor Vision experts regularly treat patients seeking laser eye surgery, refractive procedures cataract surgery.

According to a study conducted at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., has found that laser eye surgery that corrects vision does not lead to later problems with the cornea – at least not after nine years . Two types of laser surgery—photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK)—are often used to correct refractive errors such as nearsightedness.

LenSar  has developed new laser therapy that can potentially remove cataract from people’s eyes more efficiently. The technology is being tested in clinical trials. It is commonly believed that cataract surgeries, which totaled at more than three million procedures in the U.S. last year, are already being done with a laser device. Few years ago, the company began to safely but partially treat human eyes with the laser in trials outside the U.S.

UCF researchers are teaming up with Boston University to develop a miniature diagnostic tool kit that will detect the early onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The device is being built at UCF while research is also being conducted at Boston University. The project will use nanoparticles on a chip about the size of a credit card to detect damaging levels of oxygen byproducts in the central nervous system.

VisionCare Ophthalmic Technologies Inc, a developer of advanced visual prosthetic devices for individuals with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), announced scientific and corporate presentations on its implantable telescope technology. VisionCare’s investigational telescope implant is the first medical device to be recommended for FDA approval by the FDA Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel for End-Stage AMD, a leading cause of untreatable blindness in the US.

The FDA and CDC officials announced that they have received reports of adverse events associated with the use of gentamicin ophthalmic ointment (0.3%) for prophylaxis against ophthalmia neonatorum or neonatal conjunctivitis. The product is marketed by Lake Forest, Ill.-based Akorn Inc as Gentak. The cases, which occurred in multiple locales and included product from several lots, have involved eyelid swelling and dermatitis that appears a few days after ointment application. Most cases have been mild and have not required additional treatment, but more severe cases have been associated with blistering of the skin.

Pharmaceuticals are increasing for production of AzaSite (azithromycin ophthalmic solution) 1 percent in the US and Canada in response to the manufacturing supply shortage of erythromycin ophthalmic ointment (0.5%). Erythromycin ophthalmic ointment is approved for prophylaxis of ophthalmia neonatorum, a form of bacterial conjunctivitis that may be contracted by newborns during delivery. The ointment was placed on the FDA’s Drug Shortage list.

Non-penetrating surgical options could alter the glaucoma treatment paradigm, making the current gold standard of trabeculectomy one of several possibilities for treating the disease. Landmark studies, including the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study and the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study, have shown that filtration surgery has one of the best rates of significant IOP reduction among surgical glaucoma treatments. In addition, certain glaucoma subsets, such as angle-closure glaucoma and secondary glaucoma, are most effectively treated with filtration surgery.