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Volume 17, Number 3
16 January 2012



Daily aspirin use linked to increased AMD risk
Daily aspirin use has been linked to increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a large European cohort study, according to a news release from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (San Francisco, Calif., USA). The study found that people aged 65 and older who took aspirin daily had double the risk of developing neovascular AMD compared with those who took it less frequently, said Paulus T.V.M. de Jong, MD, the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Academic Medicine, and colleagues.
In this study, the 839 participants who reported taking aspirin daily had higher rates of cardiovascular disease, were less likely to be smokers, and were older than participants who took aspirin less often. Even after accounting for cardiovascular disease as a mitigating risk factor for AMD, the study found daily aspirin use to be a risk factor.
"If future studies support our results, then recommendations on aspirin may need to be modified for patients with age-related macular degeneration," Dr. de Jong said. "It's possible that increased AMD risk may outweigh aspirin's potential protective benefits for some patients, but we need to know more about the impacts of dose, length of use, and other factors before we can say for certain, or make specific recommendations." Dr. de Jong's research was part of the European Eye Study that examined and surveyed more than 4,600 Europeans between 2000 and 2003.


New startup focused on back-of-the-eye diseases
Clearside Biomedical (Atlanta, Ga., USA) will develop microinjection technology that uses hollow microneedles to precisely target therapeutics within the eye, the company said in a news release. The technology was developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University (Atlanta); Clearside has received a US$4 million venture capital investment based upon early potential indications.
The technology developed by Georgia Tech and Emory uses a hollow micron-scale needle to inject therapeutics into the suprachoroidal space located between the sclera and the choroid. Preclinical research has demonstrated that fluid can flow between the two layers, where it can spread out to the entire eye, including structures such as the retina that are currently difficult to reach, the universities said. In Pharmaceutical Research, the Georgia Tech-Emory team demonstrated this technique can be used to deliver nanoparticles and microparticles to specific parts of the eye. In later research, they also showed that microneedle injections into the suprachoroidal space rapidly resulted in concentrations of drugs and particles that could be maintained for several months.


KalVista, JDRF form research partnership
KalVista Pharmaceuticals (Southampton, UK) and JDRF (New York, NY, USA) will jointly research a potential treatment for diabetic eye disease, the groups said, with JDRF providing up to US$2.2 million for the research. The money will be used to develop KalVista's plasma kallikrein inhibitor, currently in preclinical studies as a potential treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME). Plasma kallikrein is a serine protease that has shown ability to increase blood vessel leakage and retinal thickening. Earlier research has found plasma kallikrein active in the vitreous fluid of people with DME.


Global ophthalmic lasers market to reach US$804 million
The global ophthalmic lasers market is expected to witness significant growth driven by the increase in population above the age of 65, reaching US$804 million by 2015, according to market research firm Global Industry Analysts Inc. (San Jose, Calif., USA) in a report.
Other factors that would propel growth of the ophthalmology lasers market over the ensuing years include increasing accessibility to advanced laser eye treatments to patients around the world; the unsaturated nature of the ophthalmology products market in Asia and other developing nations; the increasing proportion of individuals in need of vision correction treatments, specifically in Asia; and the rise in the number of eye patients opting for eye surgery in order to do away with reading glasses, contacts, and bifocals, the group said in a news release. Application of laser technology in early diagnosis, and the detection of certain eye disorders in conjunction with imaging technologies, such as optical coherence tomography, is another factor that would boost growth of the laser eye correction market in the future, the group said.


Optovue, CZM reach patent infringement settlement
Optovue Inc. (Fremont, Calif., USA) and Carl Zeiss Meditec (Dublin, Calif., USA) have signed a settlement agreement resolving two pending Federal District Court patent infringement cases. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies dismissed all currently pending litigation and entered into a cross-license agreement of certain issued and to be issued patents owned or controlled by each party. The specific terms of the settlement are confidential.


RESEARCH BRIEFS
  • Azithromycin dosed once yearly instead of twice a year seems to have equal ability to reduce the prevalence of trachoma in children between the ages of 1 and 9 years, according to Teshome Gebre, PhD, and colleagues. The group performed a cluster-randomized trial in 24 subdistricts in northern Ethiopia, randomly assigned to receive annual or twice-yearly treatment for all residents of all ages. All subjects were given a single, directly observed, oral dose of azithromycin. A 6-week course of topical 1% tetracycline ointment, applied twice daily to both eyes but not directly observed, was offered as an alternative to azithromycin in patients younger than 12 months, and in patients with self-reported pregnancy, with allergy, or who refused azithromycin. Antibiotic coverage of children aged 1-9 years was greater than 80% at all study visits. In the groups treated annually, the prevalence of infection in children aged 0-9 years was reduced from a mean 41.9% at baseline to 1.9% at 42 months. In the groups treated twice yearly, the prevalence of infection was reduced from a mean 38.3% at baseline to 3.2% at 42 months. The article is published in The Lancet.
  • Variations on refractive error in adults aged 50+ years were mostly influenced by variations in axial length and in crystalline lens refractive power, followed by variations in corneal refractive power, and to a minor degree by variations in lens thickness and anterior chamber depth, according to a study. Rafael Iribarren, MD, and colleagues evaluated all phakic participants of the population-based Central India Eye and Medical Study who were at least 50 years old (N=1,885). Mean refractive lens power was 25.5±3.0 D. In multivariate analysis, refractive error was significantly (P<0.001) associated with shorter axial length, lower refractive lens power, lower corneal refractive power, higher lens thickness, deeper anterior chamber, and less marked nuclear lens opacity. Lens thickness was significantly lower in eyes with greater nuclear opacity. The study is published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.
  • Resident participation is associated with significantly increased phacoemulsification operative times and costs during the first half, but not the second half, of the academic year, said Matthew R. Hosler, MD, and colleagues. The time and cost per resident may be important to consider when allocating resources for preclinical training, they recommended. The group performed a retrospective chart review of all phacoemulsification surgeries performed at a single academic center between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2007, to determine the amount of time the surgery took and the costs of using the OR. The primary surgeon was an attending physician in 474 cases and a senior resident physician in 473 cases. Every month from July through December, the monthly mean operative case length for resident cases was significantly longer than the mean operative case length for attending cases (P<0.05), except November. From January through June, there was no difference. Resident participation added US$105.40 to the average phacoemulsification case totaling US$8,293.23 per resident per year. The study is published in Ophthalmology.
NEW PRODUCT BRIEFS
  • Geuder (Heidelberg, Germany) developed the MICS Double Cross-Action Capsulorhexis Forceps in conjunction with Prof. Gerd U. Auffarth. The design of the branches "makes the forceps ideal for small clear-cornea incisions of down to 1.6 mm". Geuder said the forceps are particularly helpful in cases of floppy iris syndrome.


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