Eyeworld

100 April 2016 EW REFRACTIVE SURGERY by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer 2015 Subspecialty Day on research involving the drop that included 20 patients. Each subject was given 1 PresbV Tears drop in each eye and was evaluated before the drop, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 hours later, as well as 1 week and 1 month later. Dr. Vejarano reported no negative side effects from the drop. He also observed improved vision at 1 line for distance and 3 lines for near, and noted other factors that "[showed] the accommodation stimulus." Dr. Vejarano is working with European and Colombian pharma- ceutical companies to manufacture the drop, and it is expected to be released before June 2016 in Colom- bia; they will soon begin a larger clinical study in Europe, which he hopes to publish in order to validate his preliminary results. Presbyopia-correcting drop L. Felipe Vejarano, MD, Popayán, Colombia, admits that his inven- tion—a drop formula that provides dynamic pseudoaccommodation by stimulating the ciliary muscle— might sound "unbelievable." The physician with a pharmaco- logical background created the drop to use on himself more than 5 years ago. Currently called PresbV Tears, the drop contains a patent-pending mix of FDA-approved substances that he said allow the pupil to go from 2.5 mm to 4 mm (depending on light conditions). One drop, he said, lasts 4–5 hours with the effect starting 15–30 minutes after its application. Dr. Vejarano presented at the American Academy of Oph- thalmology's Refractive Surgery they actually work? Although these questions—and more—in many cases have yet to be answered by peer-reviewed, scientific research, John Berdahl, MD, Vance Thompson Vision, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, thinks the future of noninvasive presbyopia treat- ments looks bright. "Everyone gets presbyopia and no one likes it," he said. "In general, no one wants surgery, but people do want to see, so they're willing to undergo surgery as long as it is safe, effective, and improves their quality of life. But I think that most people would prefer a nonsurgical option if it was easy and convenient and worked. Nonsurgical options have yet to show that they're easy, conve- nient, and work, but they certainly have that promise." New generation of nonsurgical presbyopia options show promise, but will they make it to market? W hile there are many options for presbyopia management, patients eager to give up glass- es might not be will- ing to take the plunge into surgical correction. Currently, work is being done to fill that void with many possible noninvasive solutions. From drops to electrostimu- lation, there is a growing body of research on new methods to help the lens accommodate, but are they safe? Are there side effects? And do Future of noninvasive presbyopia treatment Dr. Gualdi performs a micro-electrostimulation treatment of the ciliary body on a patient with presbyopia. Source: Luca Gualdi, MD Micro-electrostimulation is 1 nonsurgical option that could be used to correct presbyopia. A scleral contact lens with electrodes delivers low-voltage pulses to the ciliary body to "exercise" the muscle and temporarily improve its ability to accommodate.

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