Eyeworld

JAN 2013

EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

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42 EW FEATURE February 2011 Retinal pharmacotherapy for the anterior segment surgeon January 2013 Pharmacological finds for retinal patients undergoing cataract surgery by Maxine Lipner Senior EyeWorld Contributing Writer Digging into dos and don'ts for AMD and diabetic retinopathy cases R etina patients with dry and wet AMD and diabetic retinopathy aren't just relegated to specialists' offices. Quite commonly, they also turn up at the doorstep of cataract practitioners, according to David S. Boyer, M.D., clinical professor of ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. "The aging population unfortunately develops cataracts as well as wet macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy," Dr. Boyer said. With such disorders present in tandem, practitioners must sometimes burrow beneath the surface to AT A GLANCE • Properly timing anti-VEGF injections in cataract cases involving wet AMD patients may help boost outcomes. • With dry AMD, geographic progression concerns in cataract patients must be eyed individually. • Using drugs to stave off edema takes on a hypercritical role in cataract cases involving diabetic patients. Intravitreal injection into the pars plana Monthly Pulse Source: Karl Brasse, M.D., EyeLand Design Network Keeping a Pulse on Ophthalmology EyeWorld conducted a survey about cataract surgery in the setting of dry or atrophic AMD, diabetic macular edema, and vitreomacular adhesion (VMA). Most respondents (60%) believe that surgery does not increase the risk of AMD and if it does, 25% thought there could be a slight increase. In diabetic macular edema (DME), most (80%) correctly indicated that it either has no effect or minimal effect. These responses are supported by current literature. With cataract surgery and DME, "it depends" on the severity of edema, status of vitreous, duration of DME, etc. Ocriplasmin has been FDA approved for symptomatic VMA and will be available this month. Finally, treatment for dry AMD currently consists of AREDS vitamins while anti-VEGF was correctly indicated as contraindicated by 55% of respondents. Timothy W. Olsen, M.D., Retina Clinical Committee member

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