Cataract

Our patients have numerous choices regarding advanced technology and eye care. Advances range from how patients check in for an appointment to what tools a surgeon uses to dissect tissue. They all have their benefits, and all come at a cost.

We often perform cataract surgery with near vision correction, using monovision or presbyopia-correcting intraocular lenses (IOLs). These folks are typically happy despite having mild residual refractive error. Something magically happens between that patient getting glasses that she “just cannot wear, at all” and getting cataract surgery. Let’s follow that patient’s path.

We ODs have an inherent advantage our patients do not-we know what’s coming.

Myopia control and prevention has become a popular topic due to more data on myopia becoming available.

Mom has pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXF) clinically visible in both eyes. She experiences pops of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in one eye and uses glaucoma medications.

As primary-care optometrists, we are the gatekeepers for baby boomers inquiring about cataract surgery. Today’s patients have treatment options available not only to address their lifestyle complaints but to provide them with better vision and possibly reduced dependence on glasses or contact lenses.

My interest in refractive surgery started in 1976 when my good friend and fellow University of Southern California (USC) ophthalmology resident Rick Villaseñor returned from his course in keratomileusis surgery with Jose Barraquer in Bogota, Columbia.

T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the towns, not an optometrist was stirring-not even an online retailer promising glasses at low cost.

The ocular surface encompasses not only the cornea, but the all-important supporting conjunctiva that is divided into the bulbar, limbal, palpebral, forneaceal, and marginal zones.

Advances in femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) providing better results, fewer complications, and higher rates of patient satisfaction.

I am again reminding you that optometry has a renewed purpose in the management of our cataract and refractive patients.

As your patients celebrate another birthday milestone, they are again back in your chair wondering why their reading glasses mysteriously disappear when they are out exploring life or why their arms are not as long as they used to be.

Eyecare practitioners who deal with patients in the perioperative period are well aware of the need for topical therapy. In most cases, a combination of a steroid, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and an antibiotic will be used for a few days before the day of surgery and then for a period afterward.

A referral of your patient to a cataract surgeon seems straightforward. You refer when the vision is subjectively affected by lens opacification. But thinking out of the box will enable you to help your patients in ways you may not consider.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, have developed an eye drop solution that may dissolve cataracts, according to a study recently published in Nature.

Liverpool, UK-The British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) opened the first day of its 2015 conference with a day-long focus on myopia management. Ian Flitcroft, MA DPHIL FRCOPHTH, calls myopia a public health time bomb.

Modern ophthalmic cataract surgery now employs sophisticated techniques to improve outcomes and patient satisfaction. This includes surgical systems providing better control, lasers to perform manual techniques, and intraoperative evaluation to evaluate surgical endpoints before the patient leaves the operating room (OR).

Years ago, I realized that a cataract is anomaly of the ocular system that should be eradicated at its earliest stages. Frankly, if you were in a relationship that was not going well and was destined to keep getting worse, would you stay?

Postoperative patients with PXF pose both short- and long-term concerns due to the underlying pathological changes that occur from the fibrillar deposition with some complications arising years after the surgery.

A recent study found that the first punctum plug developed to treat inflammation and pain following cataract surgery has been shown to be a reliable alternative to medicated eye drops.

A recent study found that cataract surgery of the second eye improves the quality of life and visual function of the patient, above and beyond the benefits of the first eye surgery.

A study recently published in JAMA Ophthalmology found that long-term daily supplementation with selenium and/or vitamin E did not have a beneficial effect on cataract risk in men.

Last week, the Associated Press reported that at least 24 people lost vision after undergoing cataract surgery at a free medical camp, but a new report says doctors may be able to restore sight for at least six patients.

In Part I, I discussed the importance of preoperative preparation, including a detailed medical history to insure a safe surgical experience. (See Fall 2014 issue) In this piece, I will cover the specific medications used with anesthesia, how they are used together to achieve the goals for a particular operation, and finally a discussion of aspects of post-operative management.

Seems like everyone is focusing on baby boomers as they enter a new phase of their lives, but vision in particular is a big topic. And why wouldn’t it be? What is more critical to healthy aging than maintaining healthy vision?

According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), 7.7 million people age 40 and older have diabetic retinopathy, and this number is projected to increase to approximately 11 million people by 2030.