CONTACT LENSES TODAY
December 12, 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.
B&L to Offer Vision Shaping Treatment
The FDA has given Bausch & Lomb approval for an enhanced fitting guide for its Vision Shaping Treatment (VST), which is a vision correction method that uses
custom-fit GP contact lenses worn overnight to temporarily reshape the cornea to correct nearsightedness and low amounts of astigmatism. The VST uses the company's patented Boston Equalens
II brand GP lens material. According to Bausch & Lomb, the fitting process includes precise measurements and computer mapping of the eye to create a custom contact lens that physically
reforms the shape of the cornea.
AOA Launches Student Edition E-Mail Newsletter
To reach the needs of all of its members, the American Optometric Association (AOA) Contact Lens and Cornea Section (CLCS) launched the inaugural issue of
its CLCS On-Line, Student edition last month.
Lead Exposure in Men Linked to Cataract Risk
In the December 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers reported on the results of their study on the relationship
of cumulative lead exposure with the development of cataract. Among 795 Normative Aging Study (NAS) participants (men aged 60 years and older who had sufficient eye exam information available),
researchers measured tibial and patellar bone lead levels between 1991 and 1999 and reviewed their eye exam data as well as their blood lead levels. The researchers performed cataract assessment
while masked to the lead level results and identified cataract in 122 men. They concluded that their epidemiological data suggest that accumulated lead exposure, such as that commonly experienced
by adults in the United States, may be an important unrecognized risk factor for cataract. Their research suggests that reduction in lead exposure could help decrease the global burden of
cataract.
NEW FROM CIBA VISION -- Introducing O2Optix The Choice For Daily Wear Or For Occasional
Overnight Wear -- Now Approved For Up To 6 Nights Extended Wear.
Maximizing oxygen transmissibility may help protect patients from the potential signs and symptoms of corneal oxygen deficiency. With a remarkable Dk/t
of 138, new O2Optix delivers more oxygen to the cornea than any other two-week soft contact lens -- more than five times the oxygen transmissibility of the leading soft contact
lens. Ideal for daily wear patients and for occasional overnight wear (extended wear for up to six nights.
NEW O2Optix -- Breathable Lenses Designed for Healthy
Eyes. http://www.cibavision.com
--ADVERTISING
Menicon Satisfied with Progent Compatibility Study Results
To determine what affect Menicon Progent may have on lens color, base curve, power and light transmittance during and after treatment, Menicon completed a compatibility study between Menicon
Progent and GP lenses manufactured from several materials. Researchers soaked each test lens for 30 minutes and repeated this 30 times for each lens. They then cleaned and rinsed the lenses
with MeniCare Plus (not available in the United States) in between treatments. According to Menicon Co., Ltd., the study confirmed that Progent has no statistically significant adverse effects
on lens color, parameters or light transmittance using the ANSI and ISO standards. Thus, the company says practitioners can be confident that Progent is an effective in-office protein removal
system when used for the recommended 30-minute treatment.
CIBA Vision Announces Major New Initiatives
CIBA Vision announced the following at the American Academy of Optometry meeting in Tampa last week:
- The company's AQuify long-lasting comfort drops, Clear Care and AOSept lens care brands will undergo a dramatic packaging makeover.
- The FDA has granted the company clearance to add a specific indication for use of its AQuify long-lasting comfort drops to prevent and remove protein build-up of soft contact lenses.
- CIBA Vision has purchased a prime spot during Super Bowl XXXIX to promote its O2OPTIX silicone hydrogel lens.
- In a CIBA Vision study of more than 750 daily wear, two-week replacement soft contact lens wearers, three out of five preferred O2OPTIX over all other major two-week
soft contact lens brands combined, with the number-one reason for the preference being comfort.
- CIBA Vision and Essilor of America have partnered to develop the Management & Business Academy (MBA), which will hold its first "class" in February 2005.
For more information on any of these issues, visit http://www.cibavision.com.
Abstract:
Examining the Effect of Preconditioned, New Contact Lenses on Wear
In a single-masked, paired (contralateral) study, researchers compared the signs and symptoms in 61 subjects with wear of new Acuvue 2 contact lenses pretreated
with a conditioning agent containing carboxymethylcellulose against new lenses inserted directly from the blister pack. The researchers also divided subjects into symptomatic and asymptomatic
lens wearers based on their overall comfort level in lens wear. They recorded symptoms and signs at lens delivery and following eight hours of wear. A set of slit lamp signs, comprising corneal
staining (p < 0.05), limbal redness (p < 0.05), bulbar conjunctival hyperemia (p < 0.05), bulbar conjunctival staining (p < 0.01) and palpebral conjunctival hyperemia (p < 0.05) showed small,
but statistically significant (p < 0.05) end-of-day mean values in favor of the lens that was conditioned with the rewetting agent. The researchers concluded that use of a conditioning agent
can provide a more physiologically suitable environment for a new lens, thereby reducing the clinical signs associated with lens discomfort.
Coles ML, Brennan NA, Shuley V, Woods J,
Prior C, Vehige JG, Simmons PA. The Influence of Lens Conditioning on Signs and Symptoms with New Hydrogel Contact Lenses. Clinical and Experimental Optometry: Journal of the Australian
Optometrical Association 2004 Nov;87(6):367-371.
Editor's Commentary:
Pondering the Future of Contact Lenses
At the annual American Academy of Optometry meeting in Tampa last week, it was clear that the contact lens field
is alive and well. There is much buzz about
silicone hydrogel lenses and some interesting research on good performance and surface wettability of these lenses. One wonders if we have seen the last major improvements in traditional
hydrogel lenses and if all future significant lens developments will be in silicone hydrogel or even better materials.
Fitting Tip:
Combating CL Overuse
In response to Dr. Anderson's tip from the November 28 edition of CLToday:
Yes, it is a statistical fact that most people wear their lenses longer than
instructed. And getting patients to comply is a challenge. But I don't think switching patients to silicone hydrogel lenses will answer the need for compliance. True, these lenses are healthier
to the cornea on a metabolic level, but I personally don't think they solve the real problem that overuse causes: biofilm and subsequent reactive tissue inflammation (e.g., GPC). To answer this
question, going to a daily wear lens could be the answer. Here we have lenses that almost certainly cannot be worn for more than the intended period without causing comfort issues, which is
generally what fuels changing lenses in the first place. Silicone hydrogels, because of their increased price, might actually make compliance worse.
--Stewart F. Gooderman, O.D.,
F.A.A.O.
San Francisco, Calif.
This month at http://www.siliconehydrogels.org, read about the hyperopic shift that occurs with silicone hydrogel
lenses, GP-silicone hydrogel piggyback systems and a study testing the presumption that wearing inverted contact lenses decreases comfort and vision.
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, issue archives and discussion
forums. Visit Contact Lenses Today for our Best Fitting Tips and Photo Clinic, sponsored by Ocular Sciences.
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