Eyeworld

EW MEETING REPORTER 54 December 2011 October 21, 2011 Ophthalmology Innovation Summit The Ophthalmology Innovation Summit, hosted by International Business Forum and co-presented by Clarus Ventures, InterWest Partners, and Versant Ventures, took place on October 21 prior to the start of the 2011 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting. Company CEOs used the third annual symposium to showcase their products, woo investors and physicians, and deliver company news or new data. Thomas Frinzi, president and CEO, WaveTec Vision, Aliso Viejo, Calif., announced that WaveTec would launch a new aberrometer, the Optiwave Refractive Analysis, at the AAO meeting. "It's an exciting time for our in- dustry, an exciting time for our com- pany and, in particular, for cataract surgery," Mr. Frinzi said. "We are fo- cused on improving the refractive outcomes of lens-based surgery, and we believe that intraoperative wave- front aberrometry is and will con- tinue to play a major role in the revolution that's taking place." On the lens front, Barry Cheskin, co-founder, president, and CEO, PowerVision Inc., Belmont, Calif., announced 1-year data for his company's FluidVision, a fluid-con- trolled IOL that reportedly gives an accommodative range of more than 5 D. "It's not just a little better—we believe it's a tremendous step in im- provement from what's available," he said. The lens, which is implanted into the capsular bag through a pro- prietary inserter that uses a unique fluid delivery system, uses the natu- ral muscle forces in the eye to move fluids around from the periphery of the lens to the center of the lens, re- sulting in shape change. At 1 year, "all patients had more than 3 D of accommodation, al- though one had 4 D," Mr. Cheskin said. "One patient, unbelievably, had 20 D of accommodation stable at 1 year. The patients were all stable and importantly, no capsular con- traction was observed in these pa- tients from the 1-month to the 12- month follow-up." October 22, 2011 Predicting ectasia— Is it possible? There is no sure thing when it comes to predicting ectasia, but sur- geons should look for topographic abnormalities said J. Bradley Randleman, M.D., Atlanta. Other relevant risk factors include age, residual stromal bed, and high my- opia "because of the amount of abla- tion and some of the potential sources of error that those things in- duce," he said. Corneal thickness value, although still debated as a risk factor, is worthy of being considered because it may be a potential marker for subclinical ectatic disease and does increase the risk of low residual stromal bed, Dr. Randleman said during Refractive Subspecialty Day. "Until direct biomechanical metrics are available, clinicians should continue to evaluate corneal thickness—both central regional and relational thicknesses," he said. "Err on the side of caution. Until we get this under better control, be very careful with those patients who look suspicious." Current technologies for refractive corneal inlay The focus of interest in refractive surgery has shifted toward the goal of optimizing the correction of pres- byopia, said Gunther Grabner, M.D., Salzburg, Austria. The KAMRA corneal inlay from AcuFocus (Irvine, Calif.) is a "new alternative for the correction of presbyopia in simple emmetropic eyes or in cases where LASIK is simultaneously performed for the correction of ametropias," Dr. Grabner said. Dr. Grabner described the KAMRA as a "simple and fast" surgi- cal procedure with "centration being of major importance." The KAMRA is an "effective and safe treatment for presbyopia after 48 months," Dr. Grabner concluded. It's also stable, well-tolerated, and potentially re- versible. Retina Subspecialty Day During the neovascular AMD section of Retina Subspecialty Day, Jeffrey S. Heier, M.D., Boston, presented the phase III results of the parallel VIEW 1 and VIEW 2 studies. Dr. Heier said the studies found that for patients with wet AMD, all regimens of VEGF Trap-Eye (aflibercept ophthalmic solution, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, N.Y.) were as successful as the current standard of care but only had to be dosed every 2 months, versus ranibizumab, which is dosed every month. VEGF Trap-Eye is a soluble decoy receptor fusion protein that is specially purified and formulated for intravitreal injection. Dr. Heier is a clinical ophthalmologist and retinal specialist at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston; an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Tufts School of Medicine; and chair of the Steering Committee for the VIEW 1 trial. Reporting live from the 2011 American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in Orlando, Florida Editors' note: This Meeting Reporter contains original reporting by the EyeWorld news team from the 2011 AAO meeting, Orlando, Fla. Dr. Samuel Masket speaks with attendees during ASCRS' "Take a Break" program

• Cover