Eyeworld

EW FEATURE 37 "What led me to get the implant was seeing the clinical data," he said. He found that as a surgeon who needs both good distance and near vision it made sense for him. Since then he has not needed read- ing glasses, although there has been a slight tradeoff. "In low light and dark conditions I do notice that there is a little bit of a halo effect and a little bit of glare compared to my other eye, but only in very low light," Dr. Rivera said. One initial complication with the KAMRA, back in the days when practitioners were still determining how to best implant this, included flap melts. In Dr. Waltz's experience, however, patients have ultimately fared well. "Every patient who has had a flap melt sees fine afterward," he said. "The most impressive thing about this technology is that every- one who has had complications is doing great, and there is not another technology that you can say that about." Dr. Tomita sees dry eye as the most important complication. "Because we have to make a 200- micron flap for simultaneous LASIK, we have to cut a lot of corneal nerves and there will be dry eyes," he said. Pre-op he puts in a plug in cases of slight dry eye and in more serious instances offers Restasis (cyclosporine, Allergan, Irvine, Calif.) and artificial tears. In Dr. Rivera's view the potential patient base is huge. Besides the tra- ditional LASIK contingent, this is something for which the standard pseudophakic patients who under- went surgery possibly years ago can opt. "We'll be able to restore their ability to read up close," Dr. Rivera said. "It's going to be something that we've never been able to offer them before, and I think that there's going to be broad interest." Currently, the data has been submitted to the FDA. "We're hop- ing in the next year or year-and-a- half that it will be approved," Dr. Rivera said. Overall, Dr. Knorz is optimistic about the device. "I think that the KAMRA has the potential to replace monovision as the main tool of pres- byopia correction in corneal sur- gery," he said. "It's much better and safer than any style of 'presbyopia- correcting' laser ablation." EW Editors' note: Dr. Knorz has financial interests with AcuFocus and Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas). Dr. Rivera has financial interests with AcuFocus. Dr. Tomita has financial interests with AcuFocus, Ziemer (Alton, Ill.), and Schwind (Kleinostheim, Germany). Dr. Waltz has financial interests with AcuFocus. Contact information Knorz: knorz@eyes.de Rivera: 801-568-0200, rpriveramd@aol.com Tomita: +81-3-5221-2207, tomita@shinagawa.com Waltz: 317-841-2020, kwaltz@aol.com February 2011 December 2011 What's ahead in 2012 An ASCRS Membership For every stage of your career Mentors and Innovators As an experienced anterior segment ophthalmologist, you've come to understand the importance of innovation and collaboration. It's through collaboration that ophthalmology improves and expands—at times in great leaps and at times through subtle change. Through its many educational and networking services, ASCRS provides an effective forum for the debate of new ideas and the incremental improvement of technique and outcomes. ASCRS offers the means and the unrestricted opportunity to advance the profession and yourself. The Society for Surgeons AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CATARACT AND REFRACTIVE SURGERY 4000 Legato Road, Suite 700, Fairfax, VA 22033 • 703-591-2220 • www.ASCRS.org Whether you're just beginning or experienced in cataract and refractive surgery, ASCRS is the professional society that's right for every stage of your career. Join ASCRS today! New Ad series-FINAL_ASCRS seriews ads 12/1/11 2:51 PM Page 3 EyeWorld factoid The prevalence rate for presby- opia in the U.S. is approximately 9% or 24.5 million people Source: CureResearch

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