Myopia control using both optical devices and pharmaceuticals, while off label, is certainly becoming an everyday part of clinical practice. That said, it is important that we use terminology to which our patients can relate. As noted in our quick poll results, practitioners believe that the term “nearsightedness” is most understood by patients. Consider this when you are counseling them.
 

CooperVision Renews Its Support for IACLE

CooperVision has renewed its support for the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) and stepped up its sponsorship to Gold level. CooperVision has also sponsored the annual IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards since their introduction in 2014.

IACLE’s current sponsors are Platinum Sponsor Alcon, Gold Sponsor CooperVision, Silver Sponsor Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bronze Sponsor Bausch + Lomb, and Donor Sponsor Euclid Systems.
 

Primary Eyecare Network Presents Second Annual Solutions Summit

Primary Eyecare Network (PEN), a division of ABB Optical Group, will host its second annual solutions summit for PEN members on April 14 and 15 at the Marriott Union Square in San Francisco.

PEN’s solutions summit will focus on analyzing the business side of eyecare practices (i.e., how to strategically utilize profit and loss numbers to increase success). Event speakers include Jay Binkowitz, executive vice president of business strategy and field operations for Total Eye Care Partners, and Mark Wright, OD, a fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (FCOVD). The cost to attend the solutions summit is $199.
 

BCLA Calls for Nominations for Research Accolades

Nominations are now open for the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) Research Awards. The BCLA provides support for work and research through its Dallos Award and recognizes nominated individuals in the field of contact lenses and/or the anterior eye with a number of prestigious accolades. The Da Vinci Award will recognize a practical contribution to the profession. The BCLA Medal will be awarded for outstanding achievement in the field of contact lenses and/or anterior eye. And, the Irving Fatt Memorial Lecture will recognize postgraduates who have continued with their research within private practice, hospital practice, or academia.

Nominees need to be, or to become, a member of the BCLA. Nominations close Nov. 1, 2018. Find out more at http://bit.ly/2EKo7jn.
 

Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety Launched

The Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety, launched this past week, will advocate for solutions to advance patient eye health, vision care, and safety as well as elevate the practitioner-patient relationship—the essential foundation of healthcare decision making.

The Alliance for Patient Safety will build on important eye health and technological advancements and will work with patients, policymakers, and regulators to deliver transparent and factual information regarding eye health products, procedures, technology, and safety.

The Alliance for Patient Safety is a policy advancement and information collaboration between leading eye health advocates, innovators, and trusted voices from the eye health community, all united by a commitment to ensuring quality care and improved patient outcomes. Through advocacy and education initiatives, the Alliance for Patient Safety supports laws, regulations, increased enforcement, and other public policy solutions designed to safeguard public health, and it heightens awareness to patients, legislators, and regulators of the importance of the doctor-patient relationship and existing and potential threats to patients’ eye health and safety.

The American Optometric Association (AOA) and Johnson & Johnson Vision joined the Alliance as Leadership and Charter members, with CooperVision, Inc. joining as an Associate and Charter member. To become a local advocate or to get involved in protecting patient safety, visit www.patientsafetytoday.com.
 

Naidoo, Schaeffel to Receive Honorary Degrees from SUNY Optometry

The State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry will recognize two distinguished scholars who have made lasting contributions to eye and vision care with honorary degrees during its 2018 commencement ceremony. Dr. Kovin Naidoo, CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute, will receive the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, and Dr. Frank Schaeffel, professor of neurobiology of the eye at the Institute of Ophthalmic Research at the University of Tübingen, will receive the honorary Doctor of Science.

Dr. Naidoo is an academic, a former anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner, an optometrist, and an internationally celebrated public health leader. He is dedicated to expanding public sector eyecare services throughout the developing world, and he founded Our Children’s Vision, a global campaign to reach 50 million children by 2020. He previously served as the head of optometry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, with which SUNY Optometry has forged a partnership and expanded SUNY’s global presence.

Dr. Schaeffel is a world-recognized vision scientist who has had a significant impact on the understanding of visual regulation of eye growth and the development of myopia. His multidisciplinary work has combined aspects of cell and molecular biology, physiological optics, and vision research, and he has developed optical instrumentation to accelerate progress across the field. He has been a generous collaborator with many researchers around the world throughout his career and has supported SUNY Optometry’s research efforts to explore the visual regulation of eye growth and the optical development of the eye. This work has been translated into emerging evidence-based treatments for the management of myopia.
 

What is your preferred terminology for discussing myopia with your patients, particularly in the context of myopia control therapies?

Suzanne Sherman, OD, New York

This image shows a bulbar conjunctival cyst that developed from > 14 hour, seven days a week scleral lens wear.

We thank Dr. Sherman for this image and welcome photo submissions from our other readers! It is easy to submit a photo for consideration for publishing in Contact Lenses Today. Simply visit http://www.cltoday.com/upload/upload.aspx to upload your image. Please include a detailed explanation of the photo and your full name, degree or title, and city/state/country.

Welcome to the Party!

In this column over the past few years, I have referenced many studies that show the importance of myopia management and also the ever-mounting evidence that we have a number of effective clinical methods to control myopia progression. One of those clinical methods is the use of corneal reshaping or orthokeratology (ortho-k).

When I began to implement corneal reshaping in my practice—now more than 17 years ago—we had a strong clinical inclination that beyond providing clear daytime vision without the use of glasses or daytime-wear contact lenses, we could significantly impact myopia progression in young progressive myopes. Unfortunately, at that time, there was little to no evidence in the literature to support that inclination.

Since then, many studies have been published that do support the use of corneal reshaping/ortho-k for myopia progression control. Most studies, as well as most clinical utilization, was within the realm of optometry. It is only a relatively recent phenomenon to see papers presented in highly respected ophthalmology journals along with an albeit slow acceptance of this treatment by more and more ophthalmologists.

A paper in the American Journal of Ophthalmology reported on a literature review pertaining to myopia control with the use of ortho-k.¹ The authors state that the purpose of their undertaking was to compare the safety and efficacy of ortho-k as a nonsurgical treatment for myopia in children with alternate methods—such as soft contact lenses, rigid GP lenses, and spectacles—throughout multiple studies. The results indicate that in all of the studies reviewed, the use of ortho-k lenses proved to reduce myopia, to improve visual acuity, and, with the exception of the Stabilizing Myopia by Accelerating Reshaping Technique (SMART) study, to reduce the rate of axial elongation. Ortho-k has been shown to be as effective as other methods in treating myopia and to be more effective at treating axial elongation. There were no major adverse events in any of the studies comparing ortho-k with other methods of myopia treatment. The authors concluded that studies show that the use of ortho-k is a safe and efficacious nonsurgical treatment for myopia and that it is capable of slowing axial elongation, making it an effective myopia progression treatment for children.

This article is a welcome addition to the literature for those of us who have embraced corneal reshaping/ortho-k among other evidence-based clinical methods shown to be effective in controlling myopia progression (e.g., use of distance-center multifocal daytime-wear contact lenses and the use of low-concentration atropine therapy).

The bottom line is that we in optometry welcome our friends in ophthalmology in the quest to address the shocking worldwide myopia epidemic. Welcome to the party!

1. Koffler BH, Sears JJ. Myopia control in children through refractive therapy gas permeable contact lenses: is it for real? Am J Ophthalmol. 2013 Dec;156:1076-1081.

Should We Be Lashing Out?

Artificial eye lashes have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, I remember my mom gluing on “falsies” each and every day without fail. She is 80 years old now and still applies lashes with lash adhesive for special occasions.

Artificial eyelash choices and styles have evolved from what my mom had available to her. I ride the subway every day. I have a very unique perspective to look at real and fake eyelashes as I stand above seated commuters in a congested subway car. These days, so many people (not only women) are sporting some sort of eyelash extension—full line, segments, long, short, thick, pointy, light, heavy, etc.

Here’s the thing: I have seen super-heavy lashes (thick, long, and multiple rows) affixed to the lash line. The glue must be stronger than the rubbery-flexible glue my mom uses to hold those artificial lashes to the lid in position without flopping over. ( I do wonder about the visual field in some of the patients in which I imagine that the long, heavy lashes are blocking the superior field.) In a number of these lash-sporting subway-riders, I have witnessed that the lid margin contour with affixed artificial strips of lashes can be “peaked” at a particular spot (temporarily). It almost looks cicatrized.

Can this disruption in the lid cause a microlagophthalmos?

GILT. Glue-Induced Lid Traction. Is it a thing? Stay tuned…
 

MiSight Assessment Study Spain (MASS). A 2-Year Randomized Clinical Trial

The purpose of this study was to compare myopia progression in children randomized to MiSight contact lenses (CLs) versus children corrected with single-vision spectacles (SV) over a two-year period.

Subjects aged 8 to 12 years old who have myopia (–0.75D to –4.00D sphere) and astigmatism (< –1.00D cylinder) were assigned to the lens study group (MiSight) or the control group (single vision). Measurements of visual acuity and subjective refraction were taken at six-month intervals, and axial length, anterior chamber, corneal power, and cycloplegic autorefraction were measured at the baseline, 12-month, and 24-month visits.

Eighty-nine subjects were recruited. Forty-six children were assigned to the MiSight group and 33 to the single-vision spectacle group. In total, 74 children completed the clinical trial, with the following parameters at the beginning of the study: n = 41 in the MiSight group (age: 11.01 ± 1.23 years, spherical equivalent: –2.16D ± 0.94D, gender: 21 male, 20 female) and n = 33 in the single-vision group (age: 10.12 ± 1.38 years, spherical equivalent: –1.75D ± 0.94D, gender: 12 male, 21 female).

After two years of follow up, myopia progressed slowly in the MiSight group compared to the control group (0.45D versus 0.74D, p < 0.001), and there was less axial elongation in the MiSight group compared to the single-vision group (0.28mm versus 0.44mm, p < 0.001). Therefore, use of MiSight CLs produced lower myopia progression (39.32%) and lower axial growth of the eye (36.04%) at two years compared to spectacle use.

The authors concluded that MiSight contact lens wear reduces axial elongation and myopia progression in comparison to distance single-vision spectacles in children.

Ruiz-Pomeda A, Pérez-Sánchez B, Valls I, Prieto-Garrido FL, Gutiérrez-Ortega R, Villa-Collar C. MiSight Assessment Study Spain (MASS). A 2-year randomized clinical trial. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2018 Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print]