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weekly e-journal by Art Epstein, OD, FAAO
Off the Cuff: “Can You Hear Me?” and Other Flimflam Scams From Contact Lens Bottom Feeders
Your office phone rings, the receptionist answers and says “hello.” Nothing can be heard except for the sound of faint background noise. Your receptionist says “hello” more loudly this time. More seconds tick by before a distant-sounding female voice asks, “Can you hear me?” Your receptionist answers “yes,” the call disconnects. It’s over. The caller got what they wanted. Damage done. A contact lens Rx for a lens you never fitted, for a brand you never heard of, that was never even mentioned during the call, was verified as soon as your staff said “yes.”
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Ocular Rosacea Causing Corneal Melt in an African American Patient and a Hispanic Patient | ||||
In case 1, a 43-year-old Hispanic woman presented with right eye corneal perforation. Her prior medical history was significant for rosacea only, diagnosed clinically by a dermatologist. Her eye exam showed signs of bilateral ocular rosacea. An emergent, full-thickness, tectonic corneal patch graft was performed. The patient's bilateral eye symptoms improved one month after initiating rosacea treatment.
In case 2, a 51-year-old African American man with longstanding history of untreated rosacea presented with bilateral peripheral corneal thinning with neovascularization that led to right eye corneal perforation. Glue and bandage contact lens were applied. The patient did well four weeks after starting antibacterial, oral steroids and rosacea treatment. Researchers concluded that ocular rosacea presented in these Hispanic and African American patients with severe manifestations such as corneal perforation. |
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SOURCE: Saade JS, Abiad B, Jan J, et al. Ocular rosacea causing corneal melt in an African American patient and a Hispanic patient. Case Rep Ophthalmol Med. 2017;2017:2834031. |
Treating Amblyopia in Adults with Prosthetic Occluding Contact Lenses |
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This study investigated the feasibility, effectiveness and acceptability of using prosthetic occluding contact lenses (OCLs) to treat moderate amblyopia in adults, and assessed the role of the multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP) as a predictor of post-amblyopic therapy. A comparative, prospective, interventional case series pilot study with amblyopic adults (mean age: 40 years, range 20 to 50 years) allocated subjects into two intervention groups: eye patching and OCL. The primary outcome variable was logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA); secondary outcomes were mfVEP amplitude and latency, and the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25).
Significant improvements in pre- to post-amblyopic therapy BCVA were seen at 1.5 months in the OCL group and eye patching group. Post-treatment BCVA was inversely related to age and the presence of strabismus. No significant changes in the number and size of the abnormal mfVEP amplitude and latency defects were observed after occlusion. The NEI VFQ-25 composite score showed significant improvement in OCL users at 12 months compared with eye patching. Investigators wrote that significant vision improvement could be achieved with OCLs such that occlusion with OCLs could be considered effective and more acceptable therapy for adults with amblyopia. |
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SOURCE: Garcia-Romo E, Perez-Rico C, Roldán-Díaz I, et al. Treating amblyopia in adults with prosthetic occluding contact lenses. Acta Ophthalmol. 2017; Nov 20. [Epub ahead of print]. |
Glaucoma and Alzheimer Disease: a Single Age-related Neurodegenerative Disease of the Brain | ||||
Authors wrote that open-angle glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness worldwide. Elevated intraocular pressure is considered an important risk factor for glaucoma, although a subset of patients experience disease progression even in presence of normal intraocular pressure values, they added. They wrote further that this fact indicates that risk factors other than intraocular pressure are involved in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Some research suggests a possible relationship between glaucoma and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In this regard, the authors recently described a high prevalence of alterations typical of glaucoma, using the Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph-3 (HRT-3) in a group of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. They found that these alterations were not associated with elevated intraocular pressure or abnormal central corneal thickness values.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia associated with progressive deterioration of memory and cognition, and complaints related to vision are common among Alzheimer’s disease patients, authors wrote. They added that features common to both diseases, including risk factors and pathophysiological mechanisms gleaned from the recent literature, suggest that Alzheimer’s disease and glaucoma can be considered age-related neurodegenerative diseases that may co-exist in the elderly. |
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SOUCRE: Raffaele M, Alessio M, Massimo C, et al. Glaucoma and Alzheimer disease: a single age-related neurodegenerative disease of the brain. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2017; Dec 6. [Epub ahead of print]. |
News & Notes | |||||||||
SCO Provides More Than $1.8 Million in Uncompensated Care During its 2016-2017 fiscal year, Southern College of Optometry’s clinical programs provided $1.8 million in uncompensated optometric care in the Memphis community, a 183 percent increase since the college began tracking it in 2009. Uncompensated care represents outreach programs geared toward bringing eye care to the community, as well as care for uninsured or underinsured patients. The numbers represent 17 percent of SCO’s gross charges. This year’s number is bolstered by the expansion of MobilEYES, SCO’s mobile care unit, and the college’s new strategic plan. Read more.
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NovaBay Names Stuart Chief Commercial Officer
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Heidelberg ISS Event Videos Available Videos from Heidelberg Engineering’s 15th International Spectralis Symposium (ISS) are available on the company’s Academy website. The event took place in Boston, Oct. 13-14, and brought together users from all over the world. View the videos. |
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Optometric Physician™ (OP) newsletter is owned and published by Dr. Arthur Epstein. It is distributed by the Review Group, a Division of Jobson Medical Information LLC (JMI), 11 Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, PA 19073. HOW TO ADVERTISE |