Eyeworld

EW MEETING REPORTER 93 tween eight academic institutions across the United States. It is funded by the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Md. Researchers are work- ing on identifying who is at risk for the disease in order to initiate treat- ment prior to the disease becoming irreversible. "We'd like to identify people who carry a specific molecu- lar diagnosis that might be amenable to specific types of gene- based therapies, and we'd like to be able to have a sense of prognosis," Dr. Wiggs said. Glaucoma practice without setting a target IOP Kuldev Singh, M.D., professor of ophthalmology, Stanford University, California, said setting a target IOP is not necessary in glaucoma man- agement and, in some cases, may be detrimental to treatment. "Writing a target may limit your flexibility," he said. "It can be dangerous, I think, in some settings. The top five rea- sons not to write a target in a chart are: you don't know what it is; you may not want to adhere to it; a lawyer may ask you why you didn't adhere to it; your patients may be- come totally fixated on it; and the real targets in glaucoma are the optic nerve and the patient's health, not intraocular pressure." OCT and imaging glaucoma David Huang, M.D., Ph.D., associ- ate professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering, Doheny Eye Institute, University of Southern California, said Fourier domain OCT may have an expanding role in diag- nosing glaucoma. FD-OCT provides more informa- tion than other advanced imaging technologies, including peripapillary nerve fiber layer, thickness, macular ganglion cell complex, disc and cup, angle and cornea, and, in the future, total retinal blood flow. "We have found that by combining informa- tion from the disc, GCC and nerve fiber layer could achieve an AROC value of 0.963, and this was signifi- cantly higher than all the pre-com- ponent diagnostic indices." Dr. Huang said using FD-OCT to map GCC can further improve glaucoma diagnosis and tracking. "Glaucoma preferentially thins the GCC, which includes the axons, cell bodies, and dendrites of retinal ganglion cells," he said. "FD-OCT improved the re- peatability of macular ganglion cell complex compared to TD-OCT cir- cumpapillary nerve fiber layer meas- urements, thus improving the potential to track glaucoma over time." Choose the leader. #1 Highest ranked U.S. carrier for !nancial performance and average dividend returns. Visit Us in Booth 1338 in San Diego. I choose OMIC because it provides the best defense for my practice at the lowest cost. The science of SLT Jorge Alvarado, M.D., professor of ophthalmology, University of Cali- fornia, San Francisco, argued for the primary use of selective laser tra- beculoplasty in glaucoma manage- ment. Dr. Alvarado said he first takes continued on page 94 February 2011

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