CONTACT LENSES TODAY

May 19, 2002

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches 8,431 readers in 74 countries.

Paragon and Humphrey Team Up for Corneal Reshaping
Paragon Vision Sciences and Humphrey Division, Carl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems, Inc., forged a strategic marketing alliance to help promote Paragon’s CRT lens for overnight contact lens corneal reshaping (pending FDA approval) and the Humphrey ATLAS Topography System. Humphrey will offer special prescribing software to facilitate corneal refractive therapy with the Paragon CRT lens.

ARVO Recognizes Holden’s Contributions
Brien Holden, Ph.D., an original consulting editor to Contact Lens Forum and Contact Lens Spectrum, received a Special Recognition Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) for his contributions to contact lens and corneal research. Holden is the first Australian and only the third optometrist to receive this award.

WITH THE BIOMEDICS™ TORIC LENS, it's Location, Location, Location. The Biomedics Toric lens locates accurately on axis over 90% of the time. Our proprietary uniform horizontal iso-thickness and unique smooth, balanced ballast design ensure the Biomedics Toric locates on axis accurately and consistently throughout the day. Astigmatic patients can experience the high level of comfort and visual acuity that Biomedics 55 wearers enjoy. For more information, contact your account executive at 1-800-972-6724.
(For more information: http://www.ocularsciences.com) --ADVERTISING

Renowned O.D. Educator Dies
Henry Hofstetter, O.D., Ph.D., the founding director of the Indiana University optometry program, died this month in Bloomington. Dr. Hofstetter was known worldwide for his contributions to optometric education. In 1991, the International Optometric and Optical League named him International Optometrist of the Year for his “profound influence upon the visual welfare of mankind.”

Free Toric Lens Guide
CooperVision’s educational CD-ROM, “Total Toric e-Guide,” combines technical information with research and case presentations. It was written by Milton Hom, O.D., in conjunction with the Association of Contact Lens Educators. To request your free copy, call (800) 341-2020.

CIBA Consolidates in North America
CIBA Vision says its recent consolidation in North America under the leadership of Stephen Osbaldeston will help the company leverage central resources to improve market access for its products. Osbaldeston, now president of CIBA Vision North America, is responsible for the company’s contact lens, lens care and surgical businesses in the United States and Canada

In other CIBA news, the company has launched a new consumer Web site (http://www.tennislens.com). Your patients can demo ProSoft lenses at the site to see how they mute all background colors except optic yellow, the color of most tennis balls.

Record LASIK Lawsuit Nets Pilot $4M
In a unanimous jury verdict, an Arizona court awarded $4 million to a former United Airlines pilot who lost his job after LASIK surgery destroyed his night vision. The pilot’s attorneys argued that physicians failed to accurately measure the size of his large pupils in dim light. The surgeon who performed the procedure says the pilot’s pre-op pupil measurement isn’t related to the post-op night vision damage. Attorneys for the defendants haven't decided if they'll appeal.

Microbial Keratitis Associated with Silicone Hydrogels
Researchers in Australia found microbial keratitis in four patients wearing extended-wear silicone hydrogel contact lenses, according to the British Journal of Ophthalmology. The patients wore either Bausch & Lomb PureVision or CIBA Focus Night & Day lenses for at least 24 hours. All four were men between the ages of 16 and 22. All had central or paracentral infiltrates; three had an associated epithelial defect. All four patients also had a positive culture or Gram/Blankophor stain from the corneal scrape and scarring after the condition resolved. Three of the four patients had swum while wearing their lenses within weeks of developing the infection. The researchers urged further investigation of the effects of extended wear with these lenses as it relates to microbial keratitis.

Editor's Commentary: IK with SH Lenses? Don’t panic.
Don’t let the above abstract about infectious keratitis (IK) with silicone hydrogel (SH) lenses alarm you too much. Some cases are inevitable. Remember, at this point, there’s no evidence that the rate of ulcers is as high with SH lenses as with hydrogel lenses used for overnight wear.

Fitting Tip: Fitting SH Lenses
To provide the appropriate contact lens power for patients requiring high minus or plus spectacle prescriptions, we’re all accustomed to vertexing to determine the effective power at the corneal plane. This approach is warranted for rigid or hydrogel contact lenses, but not silicone hydrogels.

When fitting a high ametrope with the Focus Night & Day lens, I’ve found that the lens power is generally more minus for myopes and more plus for hyperopes compared to the patient's previous lenses. The Focus N&D lens has less spherical aberration than other hydrogels, so you’ll need a higher power on the eye for a given level of refractive error. I’ve had more success obtaining a plano over-refraction using the spectacle plane power, not the effective corneal plane power. This has saved me chair time and trial lenses.
--Mohan Merchea, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O., Columbus, Ohio

Send your favorite tips to tips@cltoday.com -- if your tip is selected as "Best of the Month," you'll receive a free golf shirt (see http://www.CLToday.com for details). Please include your full name, degree or title and city/state/country.

Visit Contact Lens Spectrum ( http://www.clspectrum.com ) for interactive clinical posters, issue archives and discussion forums. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips and Photo Clinic, sponsored by Ocular Sciences.

CLToday Services: Subscribe; Change your e-mail address; submit news to news@cltoday.com; or, fax 1-215-643-3902.