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4 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | MAY 7, 2019 continued from page 1 ASCRS NEWS patients showed a 20% reduction in pressure compared to baseline, and all patients except one were off all medications postop. Most patients, Dr. Riedel said, were very or extremely comfortable at 6 months. In terms of safety, there were no infections or uveitis, no dislocations or device migration, and no sight-threatening compli- cations. There were three device blockages, two of which resolved completely with no or minimal in- tervention. The third was removed for persistent blockage. Dr. Riedel said investigators will soon conduct a prospective, multicenter study to evaluate safety and efficacy in refractory glaucoma. Another technology highlight- ed was KeraKlear, invented by Yichieh Shiuey, MD, Palo Alto, California. Since he was a resident, Dr. Shiuey said he wondered, "What if we could achieve the re- sults of the Boston KPro without the complications and avoid the need for donor tissue?" Currently, there are limits to treating world corneal blindness, Dr. Shiuey said: lack of donor tissue, lack of trained cornea transplant surgeons, lack of sterile operating rooms, and risk for se- vere complications. KeraKlear, he said, can address these issues. Seven millimeters in total di- ameter with a 4 mm central optic, KeraKlear is implanted through a 3.5 mm incision into an 8 mm cor- neal pocket made by a femtosec- ond laser. It is an in-office surgery with a short learning curve with no need for combined glaucoma surgery, Dr. Shiuey said. The device is in FDA trials at four sites in patients at high risk for graft failure and aniridia kera- topathy. Dr. Shiuey presented the results of a few individual cases. A patient with corneal dystrophy was 20/400 preoperatively and 20/40 postop. A patient with a failed cornea transplant was hand motion only preop and 20/60 postop. There have been no cases of endophthalmitis, retroprosthet- ic membrane, or increased IOP, Dr. Shiuey said. There has been an 11% extrusion rate. "It is my sincere hope this and other tech- nology will be able to rid the world of the scourge of corneal blindness," Dr. Shiuey said. Scott MacRae, MD, Roch- ester, New York, introduced laser-induced refractive index change (LIRIC, Clerio Vision) as an innovation that he said has the potential to be a better, safer way to refine optics of the eye. It could be used to revolutionize refractive surgery, provide postop IOL touch-ups and adjustments, and modify contact lenses in ways we've never been able to do before, he said. Instead of altering shape, this innovation uses a low-pulse ener- gy femtosecond laser to modify refractive index. It can correct sphere, cylinder, custom higher order aberrations, and presbyopia. The treatment, Dr. MacRae said, takes a little more than a minute. The first in-human trials with 27 monofocal, presbyopic pseu- dophakes were treated with a dif- fractive bifocal. Dr. MacRae noted clear corneas, no inflammation, no scatter, and no scarring or opacity on postop day 1 and at 1 week. Other presentations included those by Vernon Wong, MD, Menlo Park, California, who spoke on the history of innovative drug delivery, and Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Rockville Centre, New York, who spoke about the Juvene mod- ular, fluid-optic accommodative intraocular lens (LensGen). Editors' note: The speakers have finan- cial interests related to their comments. Dr. Shiuey shares his vision for a device that could help "rid the world of the scourge of corneal blindness." ASCRS Executive Director Steve Speares Editorial Editorial Director Amy Goldenberg Senior Staff Writer/ Meetings Editor Ellen Stodola Senior Staff Writer Liz Hillman Contributing Writers Stefanie Petrou Binder, MD Vanessa Caceres Rich Daly Lauren Lipuma Production Managing Editor Stacy Jablonski Graphic Designer Julio Guerrero Graphic Designer Susan Steury Production Manager Cathy Stern Editorial Production Assistant/ Social Media Coordinator Taylor Wise Sales, Sponsorships, and Special Events Jessica Donohoe Shelly Dixon Molly Phillips Joe Dooley Cathy Stern Anne Le FACEBOOK EyeWorldMagazine TWITTER EyeWorldMag INSTAGRAM eyeworldmagazine ASCRS

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