Michela Cimberle

With AI moving at a fast pace, oculomics — the study of the eye as a window to systemic health — is expanding its potential and gaining increasing attention. The past few years have seen an abundance of studies and initiatives aimed at creating strategic partnerships for collaborative projects in this area. Oculomics-based AI systems promise to become a transformative tool for risk stratification

SEVILLE, Spain — Do surgeons feel comfortable offering vitrectomy as a treatment for floaters? What is their attitude toward patients who are affected to the point of seeking surgery despite the risks involved? Two surgeons with different views debated this issue at the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology.

Corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segments, or CAIRS, have been gaining momentum over the years as a minimally invasive procedure for treating keratoconus and corneal ectasia.“CAIRS is a type of mid-peripheral, mid-stromal additive lamellar keratoplasty. However, unlike other keratoplasties and even unlike all other treatments for keratoconus, CAIRS is a very high-reward, low-risk

SEVILLE, Spain — While glaucoma prevalence is growing, glaucoma specialists are in short supply, and accessibility to specialized centers is limited. Can this gap be filled by general ophthalmologists?This issue was debated at the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology.

SEVILLE, Spain — In this Healio Video Perspective, M. Francesca Cordeiro, MD, PhD, highlights three hot topics in glaucoma discussed at the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology.

SEVILLE, Spain — A cell-based subretinal implant shows promise in the treatment of geographic atrophy, achieving the unprecedented milestone of partially restoring vision.During his keynote lecture at the Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology, Mark S. Humayun, MD, PhD, discussed cell-based approaches for GA and early studies examining autologous same-eye retinal pigment epithelium

ATHENS, Greece — Sport-related repeated micro-trauma could be the cause of traumatic cataract and zonular damage without clinically evident signs, according to a presenter.At the ESCRS winter meeting, Dimitrios Tsouris, MD, of Greece presented an unexpected case of trypan blue migration in the vitreous cavity during phacoemulsification in a 30-year-old man with cataract in his left eye.

ATHENS, Greece — Implantation of customized lenticules could offer a tailored solution for corneal remodeling in eccentric keratoconus, according to an ex vivo study.“From 28 eye bank donor corneas, we took 12 corneas to produce two models of eccentric keratoconus and the other 16 corneas to create different types of lenticules,” Mona El Zarif, PhD, said at the ESCRS winter

ATHENS, Greece — Cross-linking CAIRS before implantation makes insertion easier, enhances the flattening effect and eliminates potential sources of infection, according to a speaker.At the ESCRS winter meeting, Farhad Hafezi, MD, explained to Healio the novel ECO-CAIRS (extracorporeal optimization of corneal allogenic intrastromal ring segments) strategy.

Obstructive sleep apnea is a common breathing-related sleep disorder, with a growing prevalence due to the aging population and the rise of obesity.In 2019, a study by Benjafield and colleagues in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine estimated that nearly 1 billion adults between the ages of 30 and 69 years are affected by mild to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Nearly half the cases are

ATHENS, Greece — Collarettes are a pathognomonic sign of Demodex blepharitis and are significantly correlated with symptoms such as itching, fluctuating vision, irritation and redness, according to a study.“Demodex blepharitis is a pervasive, damaging eyelid disease that is caused by overgrowth of the Demodex mites,” Ruth Lapid-Gortzak, MD, PhD, said at the ESCRS winter meeting.

ATHENS, Greece — Allogenic corneal inlays can be a safe solution for mild hyperopia and emmetropic presbyopia, according to an expert at the ESCRS winter meeting. “There is a huge population of presbyopic patients who ask for freedom from reading spectacles, but we don’t want to disturb distance vision with laser surgery and don’t want the risks of an intraocular

Neurotrophic keratitis is historically a rare disease, but now that more understanding has been gained of the underlying etiology and manifestations, its prevalence is starting to increase, and more cases are seen in clinics.“We are diagnosing it a lot more commonly, and we are able to intervene a lot sooner. That really stems from our understanding of how it affects the nerves and how it

A paper recently published in JAMA Ophthalmology by Hathaway and colleagues at Harvard suggested a potential association between prescribed semaglutide and an increased risk for nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist primarily used as a treatment for diabetes (Ozempic, Novo Nordisk) and more recently greenlit as a breakthrough treatment for obesity

BARCELONA, Spain — Adopting specific treatment regimens, reducing patient and staff travel, and limiting the use of unnecessary personal protective equipment can help improve the carbon footprint of intravitreal injections.Intravitreal injections are frequently performed and therefore have important consequences in terms of carbon emissions. However, no common policy is in place to date,

BARCELONA, Spain — Receiving the ESCRS Lifetime Achievement Award at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting came as a surprise to Robert H. Osher, MD.“At the end of the film awards, Richard Packard called me up on stage, and I have to say, I’m rarely unprepared for a surprise like that. It was completely unexpected,” he told Healio | OSN. “I

BARCELONA, Spain — In this Healio Video Perspective from the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting, Farhad Hafezi, MD, PhD, speaks about cross-linking applied to femto-CAIRS for the treatment of keratoconus.The soft segments are stiffened by cross-linking and become easier to insert and more compact. In addition, the keratocytes are killed, and the tissue becomes

BARCELONA, Spain — The future of glaucoma management will be enabled by AI and genomics, according to a speaker at Glaucoma Day during the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting.By using genetic code, it is now possible to predict who may develop glaucoma in the general population, and direct-to-consumers tests such as 23andMe are already available, Anthony Khawaja,

Stefano Gandolfi, MD, a glaucoma specialist and Healio | OSN Europe Edition Board Member, died on Sept. 2 at the age of 64 years.Gandolfi was professor and head of the ophthalmology department at the University Hospital of Parma, Italy. He was a cherished, active member of the European Glaucoma Society (EGS) and contributed to key advances in glaucoma management with his clinical research

Adolescents with myopia have up to a twofold increased risk of experiencing anxiety and mood disorders, and the odds for both conditions increase with myopia severity, according to a study.Data from 891,505 Israeli adolescents evaluated before military service were analyzed. The age range of participants was between 16 and 20 years, and 57.7% were male. A total of 279,419 subjects had myopia,