CONTACT LENSES TODAY

March 9, 2003

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches 9,734 readers in 74 countries.

B&L Laser System Receives New Indication
The FDA recently approved the Bausch & Lomb Technolas 217A Excimer Laser System for the correction of hyperopia up to +4.00D and the treatment of astigmatism up to +2.00D when used as part of the LASIK procedure.

South Dakota O.D.s Now Permitted to Prescribe Oral Meds
Until recently, optometrists in South Dakota were only allowed to prescribe eye drops and ointments to treat eye problems. But on March 5, the state's Governor, Mike Rounds, signed Senate Bill 135, making South Dakota the 39th state to allow optometrists to issue prescriptions for oral medications to treat such problems. The bill does not allow optometrists to prescribe orals to treat children under the age of 12 without first consulting with ophthalmologists or other doctors.

Silicone Hydrogel Lens Solution Complications . . . "Practitioners who fit silicone-hydrogel contact lenses on a daily wear basis should be wary of the potential for certain PHMB-containing multipurpose care systems to invoke corneal staining." ** OPTI-FREE EXPRESS contains POLYQUAD and has been cleared by the FDA for use with silicone hydrogel lenses. Only Alcon multipurpose solutions (OPTI-FREE EXPRESS) do not contain PHMB. --ADVERTISING

Reference: Jones, L; MacDougall, N; Sorbara, L.G., Asymptomatic Corneal Staining Associated with the Use of Balafilcon Silicone-Hydrogel Contact Lenses Disinfected with a Polyaminopropyl Biguanide-Preserved Care Regimen. Optom Vis Sci 2002 Dec; 79(12):753-61.
**Trademarks of other companies.

Not Just Another Mail-Order CL Company
9mm Special Effects' artist, Kevin Carter, has been designing theatrical and therapeutic contact lenses since 1994. He started the custom contact lens department of Adventure in Colors. He's also designed lenses for Johns Hopkins Hospital, The Mayo Clinic and various films, commercials and music videos. The Medford, Ore. based company offers lenses such as Alien Vampire, Blue Sclera, Circuit, Evil Eye and Werewolf. All lenses are approved by the FDA and 9mm requires an eye exam with a prescription that is six months current. It also warns individuals not to share their theatrical lenses and states that they are medical devices. Direct your patients to http://www.9mmsfx.com.

WildEyes Adds New Design
CIBA Vision has added a new design to its WildEyes line of contact lenses. The company based the new jaguar design on its existing cat-eye lens and the new lens features a narrow black slit surrounded by a shiny metallic teal-blue color. Check it out at http://www.cibavision.com.

Abstract: Barbados Eye Studies Results
Researchers recently released results from The Barbados Incidence Study of Eye Diseases II (1997 to 2002), which is a nine-year follow up to the Barbados Eye Study (BES, 1988 to 1992), which investigated the prevelance, incidence and risk factors for the major causes of visual impairment or loss in the predominantly black population of Barbados, West Indies. The cohort represented a simple random sample of the country's adult population (40 to 84 years old at baseline). Black participants tended to have thinner corneas (mean thickness 529.8 microm) than white particpants (545.2 microm), respectively. Among black participants, increasing values of central corneal thickness (CCT) were significantly related to younger age (P<.001), diabetes history (P=.03) and refractive error (P=.03). A marginally significant relationship (with thinner corneas) was found with a clinical diagnosis of glaucoma (P=.07). Nemesure, B; Wu, S-Y; Hennis, A; Leske, MC, for the Barbados Eye Study Group. Corneal thickness and intraocular pressure in the Barbados Eye Studies. Arch Ophthalmol 2003;121:240-44.

Editor's Commentary: Hed here
Wonder of wonders, we just saw a patient who needed a "ballasted" GP lens in one eye and a sphere GP in the other. An honest to goodness GP lens wearer. No, soft torics were not an option for this stoic chap. Periballast is the way to go of course, and that's what we'll try -- with a high Dk material, of course.

Fitting Tip: First-Time Wearer? Tuck That Chin.
This tip is to help new wearers with the insertion of contact lenses. The first-time wearer is usually taught to brush up the upper lashes of the lid and hold them while pulling down the bottom lid with the opposite hand and then inserting the lens directly on the eye. I have noticed numerous times that patients tend to resist more while holding both lids open. Instead, have the patient pull down only on the bottom lid, tuck his chin into his chest, look through his eyelashes into the mirror and insert the lens with his opposite hand using the index finger on the lower part of the eye without touching the bottom lid. Then have the patient look down into the lens. The tuck of the chin into the chest allows less resistance to blink and actually exposes more eye to put the lens on while letting the patient still partially blink and not affect the insertion. It's amazing how much easier it is for the patient. Try it -- you'll also be amazed.
--Sherri L. Bowen, Contact Lens Tech
Silverdale, Wash.

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