CONTACT LENSES TODAY

July 18, 2004

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.

Dave Hansen Takes Role at AMO
David Hansen, OD, FAAO, has left private practice in Des Moines, Iowa, to take on the position of director, Professional Affairs at Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) starting this month. In his new position, Dr. Hansen will be responsible for interfacing with national, state and local optometric/ophthalmic organizations such as The American Optometric Association, SECO International, the American Academy of Optometry, Vision Expos East and West and Contact Lens and Eyecare Symposium. He will also act as a liaison with optometry schools to promote AMO's products and services, support student research meetings and awards, evaluate requests for continuing education program funding, speak at designated school symposia and arrange visits by school VIPs and opinion leaders to meet and tour AMO's corporate headquarters. According to an AMO spokesperson, "Bringing Dr. Hansen to AMO presents our continued and growing commitment to the contact lens/eyecare field."

AOA CLCS Elects Chair, Presents Awards
The American Optometric Association (AOA) Contact Lens and Cornea Section (CLCS) has elected David B. Seibel, OD, FAAO, as its chair for the 2004-2005 year at the recent AOA Annual Congress. At this meeting, Dr. Ken Lebow received the Dr. Roger Kame Award for outstanding lecturing, Dr. Joe Barr received the CLCS Achievement Award for outstanding contribution to the optometric profession in the area of contact lenses and eye care and Dr. John De Carle received the CLCS Dr. Donald Korb Award for Excellence.

ACUVUE ADVANCE Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR is achieving record levels of patient satisfaction. In fact, in a recent market test, three quarters of the patients said that ACUVUE ADVANCE with HYDRACLEAR outperformed any other contact lenses they had ever tried.* That's part of the reason why nearly 6 out of 10 patients felt better about their Eye Care Professional after he/she recommended ACUVUE ADVANCE with HYDRACLEAR**.
Grow your practice with the lens that's becoming THE NEW STANDARD for daily wear.

Visit http://www.ecp.acuvue.com for more details on ACUVUE ADVANCE with HYDRACLEAR.

* Percentage of patients responding to market test survey; data on file.
** ECPs completing survey at conclusion of market test period; data on file.
--ADVERTISING

OAA to Offer Educational Event
The Orthokeratology Academy of America (OAA) is offering 12 hours of COPE-Approval-Pending continuing education on the essentials of corneal reshaping August 28 and 29, 2004 at the University of Houston College of Optometry. For $395 (which includes meals), the first 30 participants will experience hands-on fitting of ortho-k and CRT corneal reshaping systems, plus listen to informative lectures presented by industry experts. Polymer Technology Corp., Paragon Vision Sciences and Euclid Systems Corporation are sponsoring this event. To find out more, visit http://www.okglobal.org or call (713) 743-1900.

Dreimlens and Procornea Reach Agreement
Dreimlens Inc. and Procornea B.V. have reached a global agreement for the sale, marketing and distribution of the DreamLens product and fitting system. According to the companies, the agreement will combine the DreamLens with advanced fitting software from Procornea, which may be used in conjunction with most major brands of corneal topographers. The system will be on display at the Global Orthokeratology Symposium this week.

Practitioners, Say "Hello" to Paragon CRT University
Paragon Vision Sciences has launched http://www.crtuniversity.com. The feature of the site, Paragon CRT University, is an online matching service that provides an opportunity for eyecare practitioners and "candidates" (usually optometric students) to connect with each other. The company will be working with optometric schools and student associations to encourage listings on the Web site. The service is free to practitioners and to Paragon CRT certified candidates. To get started, practitioners and candidates simply log in to the site and create an online profile. Then they can search for the perfect CRT job opportunity or CRT candidate. Go to the Web site for more information.

Abstract: Corneal Steepening with Short-Term Wear of Apical Clearance Lenses
After investigating changes in corneal topography, corneal thickness and refraction after short-term wear of apical clearance lenses, researchers in Sydney, Australia concluded that apical clearance lenses induce corneal steepening after short-term wear. Although corneal molding is implicated as the primary factor driving the shape change, corneal edema and postlens tear film pressures can modify this response. Ten young adults participated in the study in which they wore apical clearance lenses fitted approximately 0.3mm steeper than the flattest keratometry reading for four hours. They wore a PMMA lens in one eye and a Boston XO lens in the other eye. The lenses were nonfenestrated in the first trial and the researchers incorporated a single, midperipheral fenestration for a second trial. They monitored corneal topography, quantified central corneal thickness using ultrasonic pachymetry and also monitored refraction and anterior ocular response. Results of the investigation revealed that significant central corneal edema (8.2 ą2.2%) was demonstrated in the PMMA lens-wearing eye only and fenestration reduced the edema response. The results also showed a slight myopic shift in refraction with the PMMA lenses only.
Swarbrick HA, Hiew R, Kee AV, Peterson S, Tahhan N. Apical Clearance Rigid Contact Lenses Indulge Corneal Steepening. Optometry & Vision Science 2004 Jun;81(6):427-435.

Editor's Commentary: Can a Painter Wear Contact Lenses?
I worked my way through optometry school painting houses. It was easier when I was young. I want to hear about your house painter patients who are presbyopic and wear contact lenses. This past weekend, I spent hours and hours painting the inside of a large home (walls, 20 feet high off a ladder, windows and baseboard trim). My spectacle PALs weren't adequate. For anything above my head, there were rare circumstances where I could actually see at near. Oh sure, I can buy some double-D segs to see at near up and down, but that's not versatile enough for me in this dynamic situation. I wondered, what would happen if I wore my bifocal or multifocal contact lenses? The next time I paint for a long time in various distances and positions of gaze, I'll try my multifocal contact lenses. I hope they help. Let me know what you think about this please.

Fitting Tip: Satisfying a Special Breed of Astigmat
GP wearers who have residual astigmatism, uncorrected with a spherical lens, may find that their acuity decreases as they approach presbyopia. Because of decreased accommodative amplitude, the same amount of residual astigmatism will cause a greater decrement in distance visual acuity as the years go by. These are great folks to refit into a front-surface toric lens, correcting that residual astigmatism. They are already adapted, want to stay in their lenses and usually are quite easy to convert. As the astigmatism is usually against-the-rule, you can correct it easily by designing a lens with standard prism ballast (about 1.5 pd base down), assume 10 degrees nasal rotation at the base, and cut the cylinder by at least 0.50D. Use the first lens as a diagnostic lens, and make modifications as necessary. Once they get optimum acuity, monovision is a better option. Address near concerns as well, as eliminating that residual astigmatism may also decrease their depth of focus, which may reduce their near range.
--Pat Keech, O.D.
Shoreline, Wash.

See You At the Global Orthokeratology Symposium (GOS) This Week
(July 22-25, 2004 Toronto, Canada)
Learn how to manage and market your overnight orthokeratology practice.
http://www.gos2004.com

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

Access a reporting form for complications you've seen that were a result of contact lenses dispensed without a valid prescription at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's (ARBO's) Web site: http://www.arbo.org/arbo.asp?dt=R&doc=Complications. Complete and send the form online or print it out and fax it to (866) 886-6164.

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