CONTACT LENSES TODAY

November 6, 2005

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week CLToday® reaches more than 12,000 readers in 74 countries.

Vistakon Wins 2005 SILMO Gold Award
This year's SILMO Gold award was given to Vistakon's Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism. The award recognizes the most important innovation of the year in the contact lens category. It was presented at the 2005 SILMO International Optics and Eyewear Exhibition in Paris. Vistakon says the lens utilizes an accelerated stabilization design that works with the eyelids to balance the lens in place when the eye is open and quickly re-align the lens if it rotates out of position. Last year, Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear recived the award for its creativity and recognition of a quality control mark.

First Optometric Management Symposium
The first annual Optometric Management Symposium on Contemporary Eye Care took place this weekend at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Fla. More than 300 professionals attended courses on a range of clinical and practice management issues. Lectures were presented by Ron Melton, O.D., Randall Thomas, O.D., Deepak Gupta, O.D., Walter West, O.D., Joseph Shovlin, O.D. and James Thimons, O.D., among others. Topics included disease management, posterior segment disorders, surgical comanagement, dry eye, leadership and more.

Wet Lens, Patient Satisfaction
Among those ages 35-49, 65% of patients who consider dropping out of contact lens wear cite dryness sensation as a key reason. ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™ Plus are made from senofilcon A, a next generation silicone hydrogel. The proprietary formulation includes a remarkable moisture-rich wetting agent and no surface coating. The senofilcon A material balances properties to meet the demands of contact lens wearers in environments that can make eyes feel tired and dry. This breakthrough material creates a lens so moist and smooth that an eyelid glides effortlessly over it. ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses can help keep your patients in contact lenses by increasing their comfort and also giving them crisp vision and healthy lens wear.
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Abstract: Contact Lenses to Correct Ametropia
A recent study in Romania explored the benefits and drawbacks of refractive correction with contact lenses versus glasses. Researchers conducted a retrospective study on a group of 100 patients seen in their clinic from 2003 to 2004. Participants ranged in age from seven- to sixty-years-old. The majority of patients were women in their 20s and 30s. Investigators used contact lenses (mainly soft lenses) for patients with myopia, astigmatism, hyperopia and keratoconus. Only 25 patients developed complications, with corneal complications being most prevalent. The researchers conclude contact lenses provide a superior quality of vision in the correction or refractive errors when compared with spectacles, especially for younger patients.
Tomi A, Preda C, Nedelcu A, Goicea D. [Advantages and disadvantages of contact lenses in Ametropia correction Article in Romanian]. Oftalmologia. 2005;49(2):82-9.

Editor's Commentary: Decorative lenses will no longer be a problem
The headline on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch read, “Decorative lenses soon won’t threaten eye health.” True, Tom Steinemann, M.D., from Cleveland, lead a strong campaign to classify these lenses as prescription devices. And the President will probably do the right thing and sign this legislation into law. But don’t think that teenagers will not trade lenses or that we’ve heard the last of corneal ulcers from shared “decorative” lenses. I think we should all talk to our young patients about the risks of wearing contaminated lenses. This is a great outcome, but we need to continue to be vigilant.

Fitting Tip: Right Lens, Left Lens
Making gas permeable lenses different colors is a great idea, as was presented in last week’s tip. I've been doing this for many years. When I suggested to my lab that we do this years ago rather that dotting the lenses, they said that they have been doing it for 30 years!
A modification of the suggestion is this: Have the lab make the right lens green and the left lens blue. When dispensing, I ask the patient, "How many letters in the word right? When they answer "five," I then ask, "OK, now how many letters in the word green? Hopefully they will realize that that is "five" as well.
Then, I do the same with the other lens and ask, "How many letters in the word left? Hopefully they start to get it by this point and they answer "four,” I then ask, "OK, now how many letters in the word blue?” Usually I then hear them say, "Oh, now I get it!"
Now I’ll give you a second way to remember: The second letter of green is "R" for Right! And the second letter of blue is "L" for Left! It will be very difficult for them to forget it after that point.
I also stress that patients should do everything with the right lens first and then go to the left, whether they are cleaning, inserting, or removing their lenses. This way, they don't have to wonder, "Did I clean my right lens or my left lens?"
S. Moshe Roth, O.D.
Old Bridge, N.J.

Best of the Month
Dr. Kevin Gee of Houston, submitted the “Best Fitting Tip of the Month” for October. His “Ask the Tough Questions” tip can be seen in the October 9th, 2005 edition of CLToday.

Mark Your Calendar for CLES — Contact Lens & Eyecare Symposium
January 11-15, 2006 • Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando
Five days of cutting edge programming for all three Os, focused on advancing the contact lens and eyecare practice. http://www.cles.info
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This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, read part two of our BCLA synopsis and learn more about toric silicone hydrogels, including guidelines for comparing the performance of different toric silicone hydrogels, a comparison of corneal swelling with toric and spherical silicone hydrogels, and one patient‚s experiences switching to these lenses.

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.

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 and issue archives. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips.

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