Eyeworld

EW CATARACT/IOL 64 March 2011 score of zero. Specifically, they found that 52% of patients had ocu- lar inflammation scores of zero at 2 weeks following surgery compared with 26.5% of those who received the vehicle. When it came to pain, this was significantly less for those in the Acuvail group. "There was a 2:1 ratio where 72% of patients had no pain with Acuvail and 39.7% of patients had no pain with the vehi- cle. There was a large reduction in pain with the use of Acuvail," Dr. Donnenfeld said. "Also, the pain re- solved in 2 days in the control group and 1 day in the Acuvail group." Dr. Donnenfeld sees vision im- provement on the medication as the most important endpoint. "There was a statistically significant im- provement in visual acuity from baseline in patients who received Acuvail versus the control," he said. "This is the first time that I have seen a non-steroidal that has proven to improve visual acuity results." Dr. Donnenfeld theorizes that because of Acuvail's stability, it im- proves the ocular surface and re- duces the incidence of macular thickening, improving visual acuity. "We get a better quality retina and a better quality of the corneal surface, which are the two main ingredients to improving visual outcomes after cataract surgery," he said. There appeared to be no signifi- cant downsides to use of the medica- tion in cataract patients. "Previously, non-steroidals have stung—that has been the main complaint about them in the past," Dr. Donnenfeld said. "With this formulation change in PH and with the hydroxymethyl- cellulose vehicle, pain was reported in only 1.5% of patients who re- ceived Acuvail." He pointed out that this is the lowest number he has seen for pain with a non-steroidal after cataract surgery. There were no significant side effects. "Side effects were much more common in the ve- hicle group than in the ketorolac group—48.5% versus 35.2%, which was also statistically significant," Dr. Donnenfeld said. Overall, Dr. Donnenfeld sees the medication as promising and ex- pects it to be clinically embraced. "The main concerns of most pa- tients after cataract surgery are if they are going to be comfortable, if they are going to have rapid visual rehabilitation, and if it is going to be safe," he said. "Acuvail answers all three of those concerns with im- provement in quality of vision, vi- sual acuity, and safety." EW Editors' note: Dr. Donnenfeld has financial interests with Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas), Allergan, and Bausch & Lomb (Rochester, N.Y.). Contact information Donnenfeld: 516-446-3525, eddoph@aol.com Managing continued from page 63

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