CONTACT LENSES TODAY

October 28, 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.

Acuvue Oasys Receives FDA Approval for Use as a Bandage Lens
The FDA has granted an additional indication for Acuvue Oasys approving the lens for therapeutic use as a bandage lens for certain acute and chronic ocular conditions and for vision correction during healing if required.
The approval includes the following acute and chronic ocular conditions:

For corneal protection in lid and corneal abnormalities such as entropion, trichiasis, tarsal scars and recurrent corneal erosion. In addition, it is indicated for protection where sutures or ocular structure malformation, degeneration or paralysis may result in the need to protect the cornea from exposure or repeated irritation.
For corneal pain relief in conditions such as bullous keratopathy, epithelial erosion and abrasion, filamentary keratitis, and post-keratoplasty.
For use as a barrier during the healing process of epithelial defects such as chronic epithelial defects, corneal ulcer, neurotrophic and neuroparalytic keratitis, and chemical burns.
For post surgical conditions where bandage lens use is indicated such as post- refractive surgery, lamellar grafts, corneal flaps, and other post-surgical conditions.
For structural stability and protection in piggyback lens fitting where the cornea and associated surfaces are too irregular to allow for corneal rigid gas permeable lenses to be fit. In addition, the use of the lens can prevent irritation and abrasions in conditions where there are elevation differences in the host/graph junction or scar tissue.

When used as a therapeutic lens, Acuvue Oasys can be worn continuously for up to six nights and seven days.

CooperVision Adds to Online Learning Center
CooperVision has added a selection of courses to its Online Learning Center designed to help employees new to eye care gain a basic understanding of the vision system while improving overall practice efficiency and productivity.
The free courses are part of the New to Eyecare track, one of the many tracks available for practitioners and staff to receive contact lens training and support. The track includes seven courses: Basic Ocular Anatomy, Basic Optics, Contact Lenses, Fundamentals of Instrumentation, Nomenclature, Patient Instruction and Telephone.
The CooperVision Online Learning Center was introduced in May 2007 as a free educational resource designed to develop knowledge and hone skills on a broad range of topics, from contact lens basics to fitting advanced lens designs. The CooperVision Online Learning Center also offers links to accredited prepaid courses available from the Contact Lens Society of America and American Optometric Association.

Warburg Pincu Completes Acquisition of Bausch & Lomb
Bausch & Lomb and Warburg Pincus, the global private equity firm, announced October 26, 2007, that affiliates of Warburg Pincus have completed the acquisition of Bausch & Lomb for a total purchase price of approximately $4.5 billion, including approximately $830 million of debt.
Bausch & Lomb stock will cease to trade on the New York Stock Exchange at market close today and will be delisted. Under the terms of the agreement, Bausch & Lomb shareholders are entitled to receive $65.00 in cash for each share of Bausch & Lomb common stock that they hold.

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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CIBA Vision Announces Executive Appointments
Henna Inam, currently President, Americas Region at CIBA Vision, has been appointed to the position of Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer. In this role, she will work closely with the regional businesses as well as Research, Development and Engineering, and Global Supply Chain to accelerate the product innovation pipeline and execute upcoming product launches. She will also lead CIBA Vision’s overall Global Marketing efforts.
Concurrently, Francesco Balestrieri has been named President, North America Region. In this new role, CIBA Vision’s U.S. and Canadian country organizations – including Sales and Marketing – will report to him.
Inam and Balestrieri will transition into their new roles through the end of the year and both will report to Andrea Saia, Chief Operating Officer for CIBA Vision. CIBA Vision has also modified the regional structure of the Americas Region business, with Latin America becoming a separate regional entity.

JCAHPO and ATPO Offer New Resources to Promote Eye Care Careers
The Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) and the Association of Technical Personnel in Ophthalmology (ATPO) will join other health care professionals across the United States in celebrating Allied Health Professions Week November 4-10, 2007. Allied Health Professions Week is designed to pay tribute to the six million medical assistants, technicians, technologists and other professionals who work with physicians in more than 200 fields, including ophthalmology.
To promote awareness of eye care career opportunities, JCAHPO and ATPO have created two on-line resources. The first is a promotional kit for eye care practices, downloadable at http://www.jcahpo.org, which includes a brochure on eye care careers, a poster, and suggestions for community-wide events to draw attention to ophthalmic career opportunities. The second resource is a website, http://www.myeyecareer.org, designed to provide general information on how to pursue a career in ophthalmic medical assisting.

Global Keratoconus Congress 2007 – Agenda Available
The agenda for the second Global Keratoconus Congress is now available online. The event will be hosted at Bally’s in Las Vegas, January 25-27, 2008. Please visit http://www.GKCongress.com. There you will find the educational program agenda and information on hotel accommodations, as well as the ability to register for the event. The program will be accredited for continuing education under COPE, NCLE and JCAHPO.
Companies interested in exhibiting should contact Heather Seasholtz at 215-643-8073.
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Abstract: Contact Lenses for Children?
The authors’ consideration that, despite several studies that show 8- to 11-year-old children are capable of wearing a various contact lens modalities, parents often report that their eye care practitioner would not fit their child with contact lenses until the child was about 13 years old, led them to conduct this study. Dubbed the CLIP study, the Contact Lenses in Pediatrics Study compared contact lens fitting and follow-up between 8- to 12-year-old children and 13- to 17-year-old teenagers.
     At the baseline visit, all subjects underwent a contact lens fitting, including visual acuity, a manifest refraction, autorefraction and biomicroscopy. Subjects then underwent contact lens insertion and removal training, which consisted of talking about contact lens care as well as inserting and removing a contact lens three times. Subjects returned for follow-up visits at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months, and visual acuity, contact lens fit assessment, and biomicroscopy were performed. The time of the fitting, the insertion and removal training, and each follow-up visit were measured individually and added for a total chair time. Biomicroscopy examinations were conducted according to a standardized protocol.
     There were 84 children and 85 teens enrolled in the study. The mean (+/- SD) total chair time for children was 110.6 +/- 39.2 min, significantly more than 95.3 +/- 25.2 min for teens (t-test, p = 0.003). Most of the difference was caused by insertion and removal training, which lasted 41.9 +/- 32.0 min for children and 30.3 +/- 20.2 min for teens (t-test, p = 0.01). The presence of conjunctival staining increased from 7.1% of the subjects at baseline to 19.9% of the subjects at 3 months (chi², p = 0.0006), but the changes were similar between children and teens. No other biomicroscopy signs increased significantly over the 3-month period.
     According to the authors, the total chair time for children in this study was approximately 15 minutes longer than teens, but most of that difference was due to longer time spent teaching children insertion and removal. Because insertion and removal is generally taught by staff members, the eye care practitioner's time with the patient is similar between children and teens. Furthermore, neither children nor teens experienced problems related to contact lens wear during the study. Eye care practitioners should consider routinely offering contact lenses as a treatment option, even for children as young as 8 years old.
Walline JJ, Jones LA, Rah MJ, Manny RE, Berntsen DA, Chitkara M, Gaume A, Kim A, Quinn N; CLIP STUDY GROUP. Contact Lenses in Pediatrics (CLIP) Study: chair time and ocular health. Optom Vis Sci. 2007 Sep;84(9):896-902.

Reader Commentary: GP Solution Question
As you know, Unique pH has been discontinued by Alcon. It is a unique solution and an alternative to Boston solutions (which are the only ones available at national retailers).
Since we have been using it for the majority of our GP wearers, is there a company or a group who would be willing to pick it up from Alcon? Yes, we've used Menicare and Optimum solutions but those are not available from the national retailers. This might be something to ask the readership.
Michael J. Lipson, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Assistant Professor
University of Michigan
Kellogg Eye Center

Editor's Commentary: Children Are People Too
This week’s abstract on fitting both children and teens with contact lenses is a good one. A subtle reminder that children as young as eight can be, and often are, great candidates for lens wear is warranted. We don't hear a lot about this relatively untapped children's population between 8 and 11 years of age. You have to wonder if starting children off with good compliance and lens care habits at a younger age could help lead to more compliant teens and adults. One thing is for sure, simply ruling this younger group out as not being ready or mature enough to handle lens wear or setting a standard age for starting lens wear is probably not the best approach. Treat these young patients as the individuals they are in choosing the right lens modality or in choosing to wait another six months or a year. At Contact Lens Spectrum, we feel so strongly that this subject deserves more attention that we've added a column for 2008 titled Pediatric and Teen Contact Lens Care.
Carla Mack, O.D., F.A.A.O.

This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org explore the significance of the recent “no-rub” solution recalls, learn about atypical upper lid margin staining in dry-eyed silicone hydrogel wearers and review the latest in silicone hydrogel research.

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

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