July 17, 2005

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

Johnson & Johnson’s Vistakon has made two additions to its contact lens line. First, the company introduced the AcuVue Oasys brand contact lens, a daily wear lens made of senofilcon A that blocks nearly 100% of all UV rays. According to Vistakon, this new material features an improved formulation of the company’s Hydraclear Plus technology. The lens will be available to practitioners beginning in late August. Additionally, the company now also offers its AcuVue Advance contact lenses for Astigmatism in a full range of parameters.

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CIBA Seeks Restraining Order on J&J Lens
On July 11th, CIBA Vision Corp. filed a suit against Johnson & Johnson’s Vistakon for infringement on its “Nicolson” patents, which the company says protect its Night & Day and O2Optix contact lens technology. CIBA is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent Vistakon from manufacturing, marketing and distributing the product in question, AcuVue Oasys.
Vistakon believes that AcuVue Oasys does not infringe on any patent and that the CIBA patents cited are invalid and unenforceable. Johnson & Johnson filed a suit in February for a judgment that the new lens does not infringe on any valid CIBA patent. All legislation is pending.

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SynergEyes Expands Team
Five new industry veterans have been added to SynergEyes, Inc.’s management team. They are as follows:

•	Jim Berglund, O.D., chairman of the board of directors. Dr. Berglund formerly served as president of Continuous Curve and is a member of the board of trustees of Pacific University.
•	Mary Loranger, vice president of global marketing. Previously the head of global marketing for CIBA Vision’s specialty lens unit, she has also held senior management positions with Wesley Jessen.
•	David Voris, chief financial officer. He was previously CFO for Laser Diagnostic Technologies.
•	Tim Koch, director of professional services. A former director of professional services for Paragon Vision Sciences and member of the board of directors of the Contact Lens Society of America, Mr. Koch is a well-known author and lecturer.
•	Jeanne Bear, director of marketing. Ms. Bear was previously vice president of international sales and business development for Paragon Vision Sciences.

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ACUVUE ADVANCE for ASTIGMATISM -- Built for Speed, Designed for Vision & Comfort The new Accelerated Stabilization Design of ACUVUE ADVANCE Brand Contact Lenses for ASTIGMATISM makes the fitting process for astigmatic patients easier by reducing chair time. Because ACUVUE ADVANCE for ASTIGMATISM was designed specifically to use the eyelid to stabilize the lens, doctors can go from zero to fitting in 60 seconds. Once the lens is in place, every blink is a smooth interaction with the lens that maintains continuous stability throughout the day. This enhanced stabilization is the key to crisp, stable vision throughout daily activities.
ACUVUE ADVANCE for ASTIGMATISM also features HYDRACLEAR, which allows for a moist, smooth, and soft fitting silicone hydrogel lens that feels good all day long. http://www.ecp.acuvue.com
--ADVERTISING

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Watch Your Back
They say no good deed goes unpunished: Three men in Raleigh, N.C., were robbed while helping someone try to find a “lost” contact lens in several incidents in June and July. While the victims’ attentions were focused on finding the missing contact lens, someone else was stealing their wallets. One incident happened in a hospital elevator. Police had made no arrests at press time.

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Abstract: Corneal Infiltration in Contact Lens Wearers
A recent study at the University of Manchester explored the relationship between the size, location and clinical severity of corneal infiltrative events (CIEs) associated with contact lens wear. Researchers examined 111 patients who presented to a large, hospital clinic with any form of CIE. All contact lens patients in the study had some incidence of CIEs. They found patients in extended-wear silicone hydrogel lenses were more likely to have infiltrates in the superior cornea. Those in hydrogel daily disposables were more likely to experience the phenomenon in the central cornea. For patients wearing daily wear hydrogel lenses, infiltrates were more likely to be present in the peripheral cornea. However, researchers concluded CIEs that occur in the peripheral cornea are less severe than those occurring in the central cornea.
Efron N, Morgan PB, Hill EA, Raynor MK, Tullo AB. The size, location, and clinical severity of corneal infiltrative events associated with contact lens wear. Optom Vis Sci. 2005 Jun;82(6):498-504.

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Editor's Commentary: Contact Lens Specialists
I just read the most recent issue of Dr. Robert Koetting’s International Society of Contact Lens Specialists newsletter. Thank you, Bob. And, thanks to all the great contact lens people who were at the meeting and their contributions. Dr. Koetting is one of the best ever in this field. He astutely pointed out the hot topics in this field were: contact lens Dk/t values; orthoK or CRT; limbal stem cells and wave front issues, not to mention refractive surgery and keratoconus. If you’d like to see more in-depth coverage about these complex issues in this publication, let me know. I’d love to here what you think. Thanks again to the ISCLS members and participants, and to Dr. Koetting for motivating this question.

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Fitting Tip: Preventing Infection for Continuous Wear CLs
With the advent of newer silicone/hydrogel technology, we've seen a dramatic decrease in the incidence of microbial keratitis in continuous wear patients. However, some wearers still experience non-sight threatening infections such as CLPU and CLARE from time-to-time. Other patients never have a problem. So, why do these isolated cases happen?
Proper patient selection and education is extremely important and may help prevent these cases. We've all heard this before: Screening for meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a must before fitting any patient in contact lenses, especially on a continuous wear schedule. MGD must be treated and resolved for the best chance of avoiding infection.
In our practice, we instruct all of our CL patients to develop good hygiene habits such as washing hands before inserting and removing their CLs. When questioned, many patients readily admit to not always carrying out this simple step. How many times have you witnessed a wearer sticking his dirty, unwashed finger in his eye to move a lens around in effort to gain better comfort or vision? You must proactively warn patients of the potential for infection, especially when placed on a CW schedule.
One valuable tip that I give to all my CW patients is what I've been personally doing in my CW, S/H lenses for the last 3+ years. When showering and washing your hair, take a few moments to massage the shampoo into your eyelashes as well (eyes closed, of course), and then allow the shower stream to thoroughly rinse away any exfoliated cells, mucous, bacteria or toxins. For convenience, I use regular shampoo and have never once experienced any stinging or burning. I am convinced that there is no downside to performing this on a regular basis and improved lid-hygiene helps prevent CLPUs and CLARE.
--Michael Feldman, O.D.
Lynbrook, Long Island, NY

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The Global Orthokeratology Symposium is next week (July 28 to 31) in Chicago. It's still not to late to register. The meeting is being CE approved by COPE and the Illinois State Board of Optometry for over 20 hours.
--ADVERTISING

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This month at www.siliconehydrogels.org http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, review the daily wear performance of silicone hydrogels; read the results of contact angle analysis of lens wettability; and scan a synopsis of silicone hydrogels research at ARVO 2005.