CONTACT LENSES TODAY

January 25, 2004

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches nearly 10,000 readers in 74 countries.

Contamac Announces New GP Materials, Solutions Partnership
At last week's Contact Lens and Eyecare Symposium (CLES) meeting in Orlando, Contamac announced its new Optimum materials:
- Classic (Dk 26)
- Comfort (Dk 65)
- Extra (Dk 100)
- Extreme (Dk 125)
These materials will become available in mid February and have good wettability. Extreme is the only contact lens material with a Dk of greater than 100 without surface treatment, according to Contamac. The company reports that Lobob Optimum solutions work best with its materials.

Deadline for Hall of Fame Nominations Approaching
The National Optometry Hall of Fame recognizes individuals whose lifetime achievements have advanced the profession of optometry and is currently calling for nominations for 2004. Nominations should include a letter detailing the reasons for the nominations as well as a copy of the nominee's curriculum vitae. Send your submissions to: National Optometry Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 6036, Worthington, OH 43085 or to info@ooa.org. The 2004 inductees will be enshrined at a ceremony on October 14, 2004 as part of the EastWest Eye Conference. The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2004.

SUPER BOWL AUDIENCE TO LEARN ABOUT HYPER Dk/t FOCUS NIGHT & DAY LENSES Seventy-five million people are likely to see a 30-second commercial for CIBA Vision's NIGHT & DAY up to 30 nights continuous wear lenses on Super Bowl Sunday broadcast on CBS on February 1. Check your NIGHT & DAY lens inventory and be ready for the patients starting February 2.
(http://www.cibavision.com)
--ADVERTISING

Researchers Say LASIK OK for Some Kids
Researchers in Dublin, Ireland have concluded that LASIK may be a safe option for some children who have nearsightedness after completing a study of six children (seven eyes) who had high myopia ranging from -5.00DS to -16.00DS and underwent the procedure. The children (3 M, 3 F) ranged in age from two to 12. Five of them had unilateral amblyopia pre-op and one had bilateral high myopia. The researchers compared pre-op and post-op refraction, visual acuity and pachymetry. Two years after the surgery, five of the six children had greater visual acuity (the other showed no improvement because the child didn't comply with post-op eye patching). The researchers selected these children for the LASIK procedure because conventional treatments for amblyopia had all failed. For more information, consult the January issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, where the investigators published their results.

CIBA Offers Incentive to New Night & Day Wearers
In an effort to encourage more patients to try Focus Night & Day silicone hydrogel contact lenses, CIBA Vision launched a campaign, called "Freedom Pass," two weeks ago to deliver fitting fee rebate certificates to prospective patients in the United States and Canada. The company will include more than two million mail-in certificates for up to $40 off contact lens fitting fees in the February issues of Men's Journal and Vanity Fair magazines. It will also extend the offer to first-time wearers of Night & Day lenses who purchase at least two boxes of the lenses through April 2004.

Abstract: Examining Australian O.D.s' Use of Silicone Hydrogels in Past Years
One thousand anonymous surveys were distributed randomly to practitioners in Australia in January 2000; another 1,000 in January 2001; and yet another 1,000 were distributed in January 2002. The surveys requested data about the next 10 patients fit with contact lenses including age, gender, new fit or refit, etc. Twenty percent of those who received the surveys returned them (599), reporting that a total of 710 fittings used silicone hydrogel lenses (12%), representing 19% of all soft lens fittings. During the three years, the proportion of practitioners prescribing silicone hydrogel lenses increased from 42% to 53%. Continuous wear represented 12% of all fittings, of which 86% were silicone hydrogels, 3% GPs and 11% were conventional hydrogels. The researchers concluded that although silicone hydrogel lenses were introduced to the Australian market as a continuous wear contact lens, many practitioners use them for daily wear. By 2002, more practitioners were prescribing silicone hydrogel lenses for continuous wear than in 2000, which suggests a growing confidence in the product for this mode of wear.
Woods CA, Morgan PB. Use of Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses by Australian Optometrists. Clinical and Experimental Optometry 2004 Jan;87(1):19-23.

Editor's Commentary: Maintaining Effective Dry Eye Treatment
Recently I have seen a number of patients with a history of dry eye, previous red eye reaction from contact lenses and long-term noncompliant contact lens wear. I continue to believe that the treatment involves first getting the eye healthy, treating the dry eye locally and systemically, using the latest in lens technology appropriate for the prescription, recommending proper lens care and convincing the patient that long-term success with contact lenses requires cooperation and adherence to the complete treatment plan. Using drops for a few days, doing a couple of lid scrubs and taking a couple of nutritional supplements, along with wearing their new lenses and caring for them, isn't enough. The patient has to adhere to the complete plan forever.

Fitting Tip: Dealing with Initial Discomfort in CL Wearers
When a patient inserts a soft lens and has mild discomfort or lens awareness, instruct him to slide the lens onto the temporal bulbar conjunctiva ("Slide the lens over to the white part of your eye toward your ear"). Have him rub the lens in a circular motion a few times, then slide the lens back over the cornea. Ninety percent of the time the lens will feel more comfortable and the lens awareness will be gone.

Often when inserting soft lenses, a small piece of lint, particle of skin or other small foreign body will get stuck behind the lens and rub on the cornea, causing mild discomfort. Moving the lens over the temporal bulbar conjunctiva acts as a way of "cleaning" the posterior surface of the lens. If the lens still feels uncomfortable, then the patient should remove it, check to make sure it's not inside out, and then rinse it and reinsert it.
--Jerry L. Latham, OD
Bedford, Texas

Attend the Global Orthokeratology Symposium (GOS)
(July 22-25, 2004 Toronto, Canada)
Manufacturer's breakfast seminars will offer presentations on various designs, techniques and instrumentation for successful orthokeratology/corneal refractive therapy fittings.
http://www.gos2004.com

Report adverse contact lens reactions here:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call (800) FDA-1088.

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