Ophthalmology News

• JAMA Commentary Highlights How to Improve US Healthcare Strategies include quality measurement, health information technology, comparative effectiveness of devices and medication, quality improvement collaborative, learning networks, and clinician training.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Hospital Teaching Intensity Associated With Higher Survival After Surgery Patients undergoing surgery at teaching hospitals had a 15% lower risk for death compared with surgical patients at nonteaching hospitals, but this difference was not seen in black patients.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Hearing Loss and Eye Disorders Sometimes Coexist in Children A retrospective analysis showed that about one fifth of children with sensorineural hearing loss also have ocular disorders.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Pediatric Poisoning With Brimonidine May Carry Serious Consequences Children unintentionally poisoned with brimonidine tartrate, an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist used in glaucoma eye drops, exhibit several adverse effects and may require hospitalization, new research shows.
  Reuters Health Information, February 2009
• Subcutaneous Trigger Point Tied to Severe Postoperative Pain A 37-year-old woman who underwent excision of a nevus from the left side of her midback subsequently suffered referred pain across her back and arm. The trigger point, which was visible at surgery, was in an area superior to the incision, researchers report in the January issue of the Archives of Dermatology.
  Reuters Health Information, February 2009
• Regular Aspirin Use Reduces Risk for Colorectal Cancer Precursors Regular aspirin use appears to reduce the development of colorectal adenomas, and its protective effect does not wane over time.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Physicians Increasingly Support a Single-Payer National Health Insurance System A US national survey showed that more than 90% of physicians favor healthcare reform, and 42% now support a single-payer national health insurance system.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Plasma Kallikrein a Potential Target for Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment Plasma kallikrein mediates retinal vascular permeability stimulated by angiotensin AT1 receptors, according to a report in the February issue of Hypertension.
  Reuters Health Information, February 2009
• Open Brow-Lift Procedures Effective for Upper-Face Rejuvenation Open brow-lift procedures appear to be as effective as endoscopic procedures for upper-face rejuvenation, according to a report in the January/February issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.
  Reuters Health Information, February 2009
• Maternal Obesity Increases Risk for Congenital Anomalies A systematic review and meta-analysis found an increase in structural congenital anomalies in the children of obese mothers.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Topical Cyclosporine Is Cost-Effective Therapy for Dry Eye Syndrome Topical cyclosporine appears to be a cost-effective therapy for refractory dry eye syndrome, according to a report in the February Archives of Ophthalmology.
  Reuters Health Information, February 2009
• Post-Colectomy Complications More Frequent in Obese Patients Morbidly obese patients face higher complication rates than do normal-weight patients after undergoing surgery for colon cancer, according to a report in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
  Reuters Health Information, February 2009
• New Directions in Medical Genetics Affecting Clinical Practice The future will see more translation of Human Genome Project information into clinical practice, although family history is still the most important tool for determining genetic risk.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• FDA Creates New Genomics Position The Food and Drug Administration said this week it is creating a new position for coordinating genomics activities in its Office of Chief Scientist.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Breast Cancer Risk Declines Quickly After Stopping Hormone Therapy: WHI Data in NEJM Breast cancer risk from estrogen-plus-progestin therapy both rises and declines sharply, according to data from the Women's Health Initiative.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Daschle Withdraws as HHS Secretary Nominee Tom Daschle withdrew his name from consideration for leading the Department of Health and Human Services.
  Medscape Medical News, February 2009
• Fospropofol Provides Safe, Effective Sedation for Patients Undergoing Flexible Bronchoscopy Fospropofol disodium, a water-soluble prodrug of propofol, was safe and effective in providing moderate sedation for patients undergoing flexible bronchoscopy, in a phase III study by U.S. researchers published in the January issue of Chest. Fospropofol is the first new drug in about two decades to be evaluated for use in conscious sedation during fiber-optic bronchoscopy.
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• Ranibizumab Improves Vision-Related Function in Wet AMD In a randomized controlled trial, older patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who received ranibizumab were more likely to report meaningful improvements in visual function compared with their counterparts who were treated with verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT).
  Reuters Health Information, January 2009
• FDA Not Effectively Monitoring Investigator Conflicts of Interest, HHS Watchdog Says More than one third of new drug marketing applications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration were missing information about potential conflicts of interest for clinical trial investigators, which could allow bias to influence the approval process.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009
• FDA Panel Backs Vigabatrin for Refractory Seizures but Urges Caution The advisory committee has given vigabatrin the green light for approval, but says doctors should be careful because treatment can lead to irreversible vision loss.
  Medscape Medical News, January 2009