Blanchard Contact Lens Launches Two New Specialty GP Lenses
According to the company, the RSS central base curve creates a smooth secondary refractive surface, and the para-central fitting curve acts as support to the central base curve and with its unique reverse geometry design allows the mid-peripheral portion of the lens to align with the cornea outside the post surgical (treated) area, ensuring optimum centration. Per Blanchard, each para-central fitting curve offers a broad range of central base curves to fit all post surgical corneas and a choice of three peripheral edge configurations (standard, flat, steep) to optimize tear exchange and comfort. The company also states that RSS lenses are available with Blanchard's quadrant specific Asymmetric Corneal Technology (ACT) to accommodate corneas with significantly steeper inferior quadrants often present in LASIK induced ecstasia or decentered post graft cases.
Blanchard's MSD lens features a distinctive posterior lens surface incorporating reverse geometry with specially designed optical and posterior curves. The company says that the MSD lens allows for creation of a smooth, spherical second refractive surface to replace the irregular corneal surface, thereby giving good stable vision and correcting most astigmatism. Blanchard indicates that the MSD is suitable for cases ranging from advanced keratoconus, post surgical, and other irregular corneas on which fitting corneal contact lenses has not lead to optimal results. The thin profile and design provides excellent patient comfort and oxygen transmission to the cornea during wear.
Specialty GP contact lens practitioners interested in obtaining more information can log on to Blanchard's web site at www.blanchardlab.com, view the RSS and MSD webinar presentations and take a certification quiz to reduce the cost of these lenses on all future patient orders.
AOA Appoints Dr. Barresi Executive Director
Offer Comfort and Convenience to More Types of Patients
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Victor Connors, O.D. to Chair Optometry Giving Sight US National Committee
Dr. Connors is currently a member of Optometry Giving Sight's Global Board; is the Immediate Past President of the World Council of Optometry; and is a Past President of the AOA and the Wisconsin Optometric Association. Dr. Connors replaces Dr. Barry Weiner, who has served as Co-Chair with Professor Brien Holden since 2005. Both will now become Deputy Co-Chairs.
For more information or to make a donation to Optometry Giving Sight, please visit www.givingsight.org.
Addition Technology Receives Canadian Approval for Intacs and Intacs SK
Abstract: Accommodation in Emmetropic and Myopic Young Adults Wearing Bifocal Soft Contact Lenses
Accommodation responses were measured for four target distances: 100, 50, 33 and 25 cm in 35 young adult subjects (10 emmetropes and 25 myopes; mean age, 22.8 +/- 2.5 years). Measurements were made under both monocular and binocular conditions with three types of lenses: single vision distance soft contact lenses (SVD), single vision near soft contact lenses (SVN; +1.50 D added to the distance prescription) and bifocal soft contact lenses (BF; +1.50 D add).
For the SVD lenses, all subjects exhibited lags of accommodation, with myopes accommodating significantly less than emmetropes for the 100 and 50 cm target distances (p < 0.05). With the SVN lenses, there was no significant difference in accommodative responses between emmetropes and myopes. With the BF lenses, both emmetropic and myopic groups exhibited leads in accommodation for all target distances, with emmetropes showing significantly greater leads for all distances (p < 0.005).
The authors concluded that, overall, myopes tended to accommodate less than emmetropes, irrespective of the contact lens type, which significantly affected accommodation for both groups. The apparent over-accommodation of myopes when wearing the BF contact lenses may explain the reported efficacy as a myopia control treatment, although further studies are required to elucidate the mechanism underlying this accommodative effect.
Tarrant J, Severson H, Wildsoet CF. Accommodation in emmetropic and myopic young adults wearing bifocal soft contact lenses. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2008 Jan;28(1):62-72.
Editor's Commentary: Consider All Options
Reading the above abstract reminded me of my experience overseeing our optometry service at the Ohio State University student health center. As you would expect, our patients at that facility were all students and the vast majority were in their early 20s. I was probably relatively unprepared for the number and types of accommodative and binocular vision signs and symptoms that I would encounter. I prescribed a fair amount of bifocal and multifocal spectacles and some with prism. I also made a number of referrals for further advanced sensorimotor testing and vision therapy. It was here that I discovered my young contact lens patients with accommodative insufficiencies adapted well to multifocal contact lens options. Interestingly, I recall that monocular and binocular accommodative testing performed with multifocal contact lenses as compared to single vision contact lenses showed marginal improvement in accommodation itself. Subjectively, patients reported improvement in symptoms that seemed out of proportion with measured accommodative improvement. I think multifocal contact lens use is still underutilized in our young populations with accommodative insufficiencies. My intent is not to advocate this as a treatment option but to remind all of us to attempt to think differently and consider all options for our patients and determine the right treatment for each patient.
Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O.