First Clinical Results of Using Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Eye Disease Published in The Lancet

Two significant events were reported by Advanced Cell Technology concerning their use of stem cells to treat eye diseases.

First, the company said that a peer-reviewed publication of clinical results from its first patients treated at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute had been published online by the UK’s The Lancet. The study reported on the four-month results of a safety study initiated in human patients last July. In that study, one eye of a patient with …

A Complete List of Current Ophthalmic Stem Cell Trials

There are now nine ongoing ophthalmic stem cell clinical trials, with another about to begin in a week or so. Advanced Cell Technology has two clinical trials addressing Stargardt’s Disease, one at UCLA/Jules Stein and the other at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and one trial for Dry AMD, also at UCLA/Jules Stein, with another about to start at Moorfields for the same application.

Cenecor (J&J)  has an active trial for Dry AMD underway at both …

Bausch + Lomb Launches KeraSoft® IC Contact Lenses for Keratoconus and Other Irregular Corneas

Earlier this week, Bausch + Lomb announced the availability of KeraSoft® IC silicone hydrogel contact lenses in the United States.  KeraSoft IC lens technology allows for custom-made contact lenses by authorized laboratories for patients with irregular corneas, including keratoconus, Pellucid Marginal Degeneration, and other complex corneal irregularities, and those caused by complicated laser eye surgery.

Each KeraSoft IC lens is custom-made for a patient’s exact needs, and KeraSoft IC lenses can offer increased wear time and …

Trabeculectomy vs. Trabectome

Trabectome is an FDA-cleared device for minimally invasive surgical treatment of open angle glaucoma. It safely ablates and removes a 60°-120° strip of trabecular meshwork using a focused electrosurgical pulse and re-establishes access to the eye’s natural drainage pathway.

But is it superior to a traditional trabeculectomy?

In a recent study, trabeculectomy delivered a better IOP (10) than Trabectome (16) with better success rate (76 vs. 22%).

My take is that if your patient has only mild-moderate glaucoma, …

Does Diabetes Reduce Risk of Glaucoma?

Archives: Researchers are curious as to why diabetes reduces the risk of ocular hypertensives converting to glaucoma, considering that diabetes damages the vascular system, and thus poor blood flow to the optic nerve would seem to make glaucoma more likely. They subjected rats to high glucose levels and high pressure and  then analyzed optic nerve and retinal ganglion cell damage profiles, and noted a definite delay in cell death in the high glucose group. They …

Alternatives to Lumigan Eye Drops for Glaucoma?

Where can I find a list of FDA-approved eye drops for glaucoma?

I was using Lumigan, which my primary insurance covered, but my secondary would not cover the remainder, roughly an extra 40 dollars a month. I was then switched to Timolol. I do not like it as I have to use it twice a day and it burns. I also feel light headed and very tired. Is this normal? I do not take any other …

Capsule Membrane Suture Fixation

January Archives: Dr. Gimbel describes a technique for suturing the haptic and capsule together to the sclera for dislocated IOL’s. The description is not so clear to me, and there is no accompanying video, so I am not exactly sure how it works. Anyway, he got good results with no cheese-wiring that one would expect when passing 10-0 suture through the capsule. I hope to see a video soon on Eyetube.

IOL No Better Than Contact Lens In Infants

December Archives: A study comparing IOL to contact lens for infants undergoing cataract surgery confirmed an earlier study that I read last year or so, namely, that remarkably, the contact lens group did just as well as the IOL group. (One would think that most infants will not wear a contact lens with any regularity- at least that’s how it was when I was a resident). In the current study following patients for one year, …

Loteprednol vs Prednisolone to Treat Intraocular Inflammation Following Cataract Surgery in Children

Bausch & Lomb, Inc. is getting ready to launch a study that will evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical Loteprednol Etabonate (LE), 0.5%, to Prednisolone Acetate 1%, for the treatment of postoperative inflammation following ocular surgery for childhood cataract.

Children up to 11 years old who are candidates for routine, uncomplicated surgery for childhood cataract are eligible, subject to certain exclusion criteria.

Click here for further details.

A Complete List of Current Ophthalmic Stem Cell Trials

There are now nine ongoing ophthalmic stem cell clinical trials, with another about to begin in a week or so. Advanced Cell Technology has two clinical trials addressing Stargardt’s Disease, one at UCLA/Jules Stein and the other at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and one trial for Dry AMD, also at UCLA/Jules Stein, with another about to start at Moorfields for the same application.

Cenecor (J&J)  has an active trial for Dry AMD underway at both …

Is DMEK Superior to DSAEK for Corneal Surgery?

December Archives: A study analyzed DMEK (DMEK involves only Descemet’s and endothelium with no stroma at all). The researchers found that a higher proportion of patients reached 20/25 or better (80%) than that reported in the literature for DSAEK. This makes sense, as the lack of stroma would seem to create a smoother interface. This surgery looks pretty hard, and is still not performed by too many cornea surgeons, but I suspect this will change …

Omega 3 for Anterior Basement Membrane Dystrophy?

I have anterior basement membrane dystrophy.

Drops are not really helping any more.  I also have slight cataract problems too.

I am now starting to take 3 capsules of Omega 3s and was wondering if this could help?

I would sure like to get back to my art work and also reading again.

First Clinical Results of Using Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Eye Disease Published in The Lancet

Two significant events were reported by Advanced Cell Technology concerning their use of stem cells to treat eye diseases.

First, the company said that a peer-reviewed publication of clinical results from its first patients treated at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute had been published online by the UK’s The Lancet. The study reported on the four-month results of a safety study initiated in human patients last July. In that study, one eye of a patient with …

A Complete List of Current Ophthalmic Stem Cell Trials

There are now nine ongoing ophthalmic stem cell clinical trials, with another about to begin in a week or so. Advanced Cell Technology has two clinical trials addressing Stargardt’s Disease, one at UCLA/Jules Stein and the other at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and one trial for Dry AMD, also at UCLA/Jules Stein, with another about to start at Moorfields for the same application.

Cenecor (J&J)  has an active trial for Dry AMD underway at both …

Progress Made in Treating Stargardt’s and Dry AMD Using Embryonic Stem Cells

Advanced Cell Technology today announced updated information on their three clinical trials underway to treat Stargardt’s Macular Dystrophy (at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute and at Moorfield’s Eye  Hospital) and to treat the dry form of AMD also at Jules Stein.

The first two patients have received embryonic stem cell derived retinal pigment epithelial cells (hESC-derived RPE) and  the company has been authorized to treat the next two patients in the UCLA study, while the first …

Bausch + Lomb Launches KeraSoft® IC Contact Lenses for Keratoconus and Other Irregular Corneas

Earlier this week, Bausch + Lomb announced the availability of KeraSoft® IC silicone hydrogel contact lenses in the United States.  KeraSoft IC lens technology allows for custom-made contact lenses by authorized laboratories for patients with irregular corneas, including keratoconus, Pellucid Marginal Degeneration, and other complex corneal irregularities, and those caused by complicated laser eye surgery.

Each KeraSoft IC lens is custom-made for a patient’s exact needs, and KeraSoft IC lenses can offer increased wear time and …

Dyslexic Children See Major Reading Improvements With New Tinted Glasses

ABC News reported yesterday that specially tinted lenses sold by ChromaGen Vision are helping dyslexic children read faster and see words more clearly.

The special lenses were originally developed by British optician and researcher David Harris to help people with color blindness. However, he found that by altering the wavelength of light that reaches the eye, the tinted lenses reduced the visual distortions that make reading difficult for people with dyslexia.

Despite skeptics, parents who bought the …

First Eye Error Helps Second Eye Refractive Error

Ophthalmology:  A large study confirms what was demonstrated a year ago. If one gets a refractive error after the first cataract surgery, one should aim the second IOL selection to half that error. In other words, if the first eye ends up at +1.50, one should increase the IOL power for the second eye by 0.75. This held true for all IOL formulas (Hoffer, SRK/T) and for small and larger errors.  One small caveat was …

First Clinical Results of Using Embryonic Stem Cells to Treat Eye Disease Published in The Lancet

Two significant events were reported by Advanced Cell Technology concerning their use of stem cells to treat eye diseases.

First, the company said that a peer-reviewed publication of clinical results from its first patients treated at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute had been published online by the UK’s The Lancet. The study reported on the four-month results of a safety study initiated in human patients last July. In that study, one eye of a patient with …

A Complete List of Current Ophthalmic Stem Cell Trials

There are now nine ongoing ophthalmic stem cell clinical trials, with another about to begin in a week or so. Advanced Cell Technology has two clinical trials addressing Stargardt’s Disease, one at UCLA/Jules Stein and the other at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and one trial for Dry AMD, also at UCLA/Jules Stein, with another about to start at Moorfields for the same application.

Cenecor (J&J)  has an active trial for Dry AMD underway at both …

New Gene Therapy Approach to Treating GA and Dry AMD

Dr. Elias Reichel, of Tufts University School of Medicine and a founder of Hemera Biosciences, Inc., of Boston, MA, presented a new approach to treating geographic atrophy and other dry forms of age-related macular degeneration at the recent AAO 2011 Retina SubSpecialty Day Meeting. His paper was based on the research being done by Hemera Biosciences on HMR59, a naturally occurring protein that  protects retinal cells from damage by MAC (Membrane Attack Complex), that can …