CONTACT LENSES TODAY
September 2, 2007
Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Carla Mack and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches more than 12,000 readers in 74 countries.
CL Education for Paraoptometrics
The American Optometric Association (AOA) Paraoptometric Section is now offering a series of education modules entitled, “Soft Contact Lens Wear and Care.” The module is designed to help
paraoptometrics perform their duties more confidently and professionally and includes topics such as available soft contact lens designs, solution use and improving compliance among others. For more information on
these and other AOA educational materials, visit
http://www.aoa.org.
AMO Appoints VP Regulatory Affairs
Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) announced the appointment of Richard J. DeRiso to vice president, global regulatory affairs, where he will oversee development and execution of worldwide
regulatory strategies for the company’s new and existing products. Mr. DeRiso has held similar positions at Kinetic Concepts, a medical technology company, as well as STERIS Corp., Johnson & Johnson’s Biosense Webster
Inc. and others.
Sports-Related Eye Injuries
According to a recent study by the U.S. Eye Injury Registry, more than 600,000 sports-related eye injuries occur every year and 40,000 require emergency room care, says a release from
Prevent Blindness America (PBA). Of these, 90% can be prevented by wearing proper eye protection.
Among other findings:
• Fishing injuries are the number one cause of eye injuries, accounting for 9%
of all injuries and 38% of those injuries involve a hook to the eye.
• Approximately 1 in 50 little-league baseball players will sustain an eye injury that requires attention.
• The leading cause of eye injury
in adult women involves racket sports.
• The average football team will sustain four eye injuries every season.
• More than half of all eye injuries from soccer occur in children age six to 14.
Increased Comfort Delivers Lasting Patient Satisfaction
Nothing drives referrals like satisfied patients. And nothing satisfies patients like the comfort and minimal corneal staining that can be provided by ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand
Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™ Plus. In a recent clinical study, new wearers exhibited no significant difference in corneal staining and reported no significant difference in overall comfort between ACUVUE®
OASYS™ and no lens. And in an in-market trial, 89% of patients fit with ACUVUE® OASYS™ would recommend their doctors based on their experience. How will you satisfy your patients and build your practice
with ACUVUE® OASYS™?
More About ACUVUE® OASYS®
Important Safety Information
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Global Keratoconus Congress 2008
Contact Lens Spectrum and the LWW Health Care Conference Group will host the second Global Keratoconus Congress (GKC), January 25-27, 2008, at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas, NV. As with the 2007 meeting, the 2008 congress will include information for vision care professionals in all disciplines, with both surgical and non-surgical treatment options. GKC 2008 will also feature
15 new speakers providing hands-on workshops, strategies for irregular astigmatism and expert insights into fitting after surgery and corneal trauma. More than 500 participants attended the 2007 meeting, which was
accredited for continuing education under COPE, NCLE and JCAHPO and offered 17.5 credit hours. Those interested in attending the 2008 Global Keratoconus Congress can visit
http://www.GKCongress.com for more information or
to register for this unique meeting. Companies interested in exhibiting should contact Heather Seasholtz at 215-643-8073.
Additionally, the Educational Program Committee of the Global Keratoconus Congress
invites the submission of abstracts for the Free Papers and Scientific Posters Competition to be held January 25-27, 2008 in Las Vegas. Papers and Posters related to keratoconus, corneal topography, post
penetrating keratoplasty or related irregular corneal surface, gas permeable lens and lens care topics are welcome. Please visit
http://www.GKCongress.com for information.
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Give Sight, Give Hope
Join the World Sight Day Challenge on October 11, 2007. Optometry Giving Sight hopes practitioners will help give sight to the millions in need by: donating exam fees on World Sight
Day, signing up for a regular monthly donation of $25, $50 or $100, and asking patients to add $5 to their invoices in October. Visit
http://www.givingsight.org.
--ADVERTISING
Abstract:
Atypical ULMS in Silicone Hydrogel Lens Wearers
Researchers from the University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry Centre for Contact Lens Research in Ontario recently reported an atypical manifestation of upper lid margin staining
(ULMS) that occurred in adapted silicone hydrogel (SH) contact lens wearers who complained of ocular surface dryness. They performed sequential staining with sodium fluorescein (FL) and lissamine green (LG) strips
in 38 SH lens wearers. They also performed slit lamp examination of the wiper area of the upper lid at 8x and 12x magnifications. They found four of the 38 subjects (11%) showed fimbriated or feathery extensions
from the superior margin of the subtarsal fold onto the upper tarsal plate. The average length of these extensions was about 2mm and varied between subjects. In all cases, the broad band of staining with both FL
and LG was demonstrated, which extended along the entire length of the lid margin.
The investigators conclude that the staining patterns shown on the subjects’ upper lid margins and tarsal plates suggests
ULMS may include more complex variants. They say the putative tissue damage revealed through the staining points to a mechanism not restricted to the upper lid margin.
Varikooty J, Srinivasan S, Jones
L. Atypical manifestation of upper lid margin staining in silicone hydrogel lens wearers with symptoms of dry eye. Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2007 Aug 23;[Epub ahead of print].
Editor's Commentary:
GPLI Symposium
The Ohio State University College of Optometry was recently host to the Gas Permeable Lens Institute’s (GPLI,
http://www.gpli.info) Cornea and Contact Lens Resident Education Symposium. Contact
lens residents from across the nation took part in three days of lectures and hands-on workshops covering every GP fitting topic from torics, multifocals and orthokeratology to irregular cornea fitting. The residents'
enthusiasm for GP contact lens knowledge was inspiring and lends itself to excellent patient care both now and in the future.
Educating our future contact lens leaders is so important and I would like to thank
the experts who took part in the program: Dr. Ed Bennett, Dr. Joe Barr, Craig Norman, Dr. Keith Ames, Dr. Loretta Szczotka-Flynn, Dr. Tom Quinn, Dr. Eric Ritchey, Dr. Kathryn Richdale and Dr. Kelly Kingsbury. A big
thanks, also, to those members of the CLMA who were able to attend.
Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Reader's Commentary:
Get Specific
In response to last week’s Editor’s Commentary (see CLToday, August 26), I've always asked my patients if their lenses were comfortable and the majority said OK. Two years ago, I
began asking the more specific question of whether they were comfortable at 9p.m., and a much greater number (between 1/3 and 1/2 unofficially) claimed dryness. A refit into one of the higher-comfort lenses available
today solved the evening dryness in a vast majority of those cases. Asking specific comfort questions reveals hidden problems that an overall comfort question could miss.
Mark Greenwell,
O.D.
Bellevue, Neb.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org review the discussion of whether SH lenses have solved the problems seen in daily wear, and read about fitting SH lenses to myopic
presbyopes. Differences in tear volume with low and high water content SH and hydrogel lenses are revealed in this month’s poster.
Report adverse contact lens reactions here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call (800) FDA-1088.
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