EW Weekly, December 11, 2020

- Two Phase 3 studies for dry eye therapies
- Separate payment for OMIDRIA
- New company formed to develop ophthalmic antibody therapies
- Collaboration to advance AI in ophthalmology
- The latest ASCRS initiatives
- Product news
- Grand Rounds: ASCRS will continue its Grand Rounds, a virtual CME event for ASCRS members, on December 16 at 8 p.m. EST with the Cullen Eye Institute at Baylor College of Medicine. The moderators, Terry Kim, MD, and Sumitra Khandelwal, MD, along with Baylor faculty will cover case presentations, offer clinical pearls, and host a panel discussion. This CME offering is approved for 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.
- Podcast: ASCRS launched its new podcast—Ophthalmology Quicksand Chronicles with Nicole Fram, MD, and Elizabeth Yeu, MD—last month. Each episode of the podcast will include discussion of cases that did not go as planned—the “quicksand” moments—with the hosts and guests reflecting on lessons learned from their experience. Listen to previous and upcoming podcasts on YouTube or by subscribing to it on Spotify, Apple, Google, Stitcher, or TuneIn by searching “Ophthalmology Quicksand Chronicles.”
- Journal Club: The first ASCRS Journal Club took place on Tuesday with a panel of experts discussing two pre-selected manuscripts from the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery. Nick Mamalis, MD, and Leela Raju, MD, are the co-moderators of these free, CME sessions, open to all ASCRS members. For more information, go to ascrs.org/clinical-education/journal-club.
- A small case series is suggesting that clinicians should be aware of the possibility of increased IOP from periorbital edema when patients being treated for COVID-19 are in a prolonged prone position, causing compression of their eye and orbit. Researchers described two cases of orbital compartment syndrome and optic disc edema and retinal hemorrhages in ICU patients with COVID-19 in JAMA Ophthalmology. The cases were observed in a review that included 16 patients in the ICU with the virus, four of whom required prolonged prone-position ventilation. In addition to the other ocular observations in two of these four patients, the study authors noted a two- to three-fold increase in IOP. They suggest use of protective cushioning around the eyes and keeping the patient’s head above heart level.
- New research published in Advanced Science proposes a drug-free, non-surgical, relatively long-term approach to glaucoma management with a technique that expands the suprachoroidal space. According to the research, injection of an “in situ-forming hydrogel” into the suprachoroidal space can increase drainage of aqueous humor from the eye, lowering IOP. The researchers used a commercial hyaluronic acid hydrogel and optimized hyaluronic acid hydrogel injected into the suprachoroidal space of rabbits and observed an IOP reduction for 1 and 4 months, respectively. The researchers wrote that ultrasound biomicroscopy showed a correlation between IOP reduction with the expansion of the suprachoroidal space. There was minor hemorrhage and fibrosis near the injection site, according to the study. The researchers concluded that “[suprachoroidal space] expansion with an in situ‐forming hydrogel can enable extended IOP reduction for treating ocular hypertension and glaucoma without drugs or surgery.”
This issue of EyeWorld Weekly was edited by Stacy Jablonski and Vanessa Caceres.
EyeWorld Weekly (ISSN 1089-0319), a digital publication of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), is published every Friday, distributed by email, and posted live on Friday.
Medical Editors: Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Chief Medical Editor; Rosa Braga-Mele, MD, Cataract Editor; Clara Chan, MD, Cornea Editor; Nathan Radcliffe, MD, Glaucoma Editor; and Vance Thompson, MD, Refractive Editor
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