EW Weekly, January 29, 2021

- Topline results from Phase 3 studies for nAMD treatment
- Phase 2 trial of betamethasone treatment for cataract surgery pain and inflammation
- Fast Track designation given to therapy seeking to treat achromatopsia
- Topline data from Phase 1 trial of travoprost intracameral implant
- ASCRS Journal Club
- Research highlights
- A retrospective review is offering caution of increased incidence of accidental ocular exposure to hand sanitizer due to its increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic. The review was conducted with data from the French national poison control database. The study authors compared data from 2019 to 2020 and found alcohol-based hand sanitizer ocular exposure in children occurred seven times more frequently during a period of time in 2020. The report also reviewed data on admissions to eye hospitals for exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitizer, finding an increase in the 2020 time period reviewed compared to 2019. With these findings, the authors noted the importance of vigilance in the safe use (and storage) of alcohol-based hand sanitizer with children. The paper is published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
- A case series published in the journal Cornea described the novel use of a topical rho-kinase inhibitor (netarsudil) in patients with corneal edema secondary to endothelial cell dysfunction. The series included four patients at an academic clinical practice who received one drop of netarsudil daily in the presenting eye. The paper described corneal clearance after 4 weeks in a case of corneal edema in an eye with iridocorneal endothelial syndrome, clearance after 2 weeks in the setting of early PK graft failure, and 4 weeks after chronic PK graft failure. The fourth patient with pseudophakic bullous keratopathy after lens exchange surgery with an ACIOL did not achieve corneal clearance after 12 weeks with netarsudil. With these findings, the authors concluded that use of a topical rho-kinase inhibitor could aid corneal clearance in a variety of endothelial cell dysfunction case.
- Research published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology is linking air pollution to a higher risk of AMD. The cross-sectional study included more than 115,000 people in the U.K. Biobank 40–69 years old who self-reported AMD diagnoses. Particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxide were measured for ambient air pollution. SD-OCT was obtained in more than 52,600 participants for measures of retinal sublayer thickness to be used as biomarkers for AMD. The study authors explained that after adjusting for covariants, participants who were exposed to ambient particulate matter greater than 2.5 µm were more likely to self-report AMD and to have retinal structural changes indicative of AMD. A press release about the research noted an 8% difference in AMD risk when comparing those who lived in the 25th and 75th percentiles of pollution levels. It also noted that all measures of air pollutants included in the study (except coarse particulate matter) were associated with change in retinal structure.
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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