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Rare eye diseases: progress continues with authorised orphan medicines and breakthrough technologies

An update on the development of orphan medicines, recent regulatory treatment approvals for rare eye conditions and advances in retinal prosthetic technologies for blinding diseases. The prevalence of a rare disease is based usually on a range of estimates and...

Optic nerve swelling – your survival guide (part 1)

Assessment of optic nerve appearance and functions is a daily routine in neuro-ophthalmology. Following a recent high profile court case there has been a significant increase in the amount of referral to ophthalmology departments to assess the optic nerve and...

Improved efficacy expected with second-generation microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) devices

Microinvasive surgical approaches to primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) offer minimally traumatic options for effective intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction in appropriately selected glaucoma patients. Increases in laser trabeculoplasty rates and wider adoption of glaucoma drainage device filtration procedures, together with the...

Neovascular AMD: fresh recommendations underline standards of best practice

The management of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) has advanced dramatically over the past seven years, with the introduction of targeted new therapies that successfully maintain or improve vision in a majority of affected individuals. It’s a fast moving field,...

New solutions in the prevention and treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis

The global increase in Acanthamoeba keratitis infections has emphasised the inefficiencies of current treatment and preventative methods, here researchers from the West of Scotland detail a promising new series of compounds that may stem the tide. News headlines detailing horror...

Pathological myopia: a trainer’s perceptive

High myopia is defined as myopic refraction of greater than -6 dioptres with an axial length greater than 26.5mm, while pathological myopia is myopic refraction with posterior pole degeneration [1]. These degenerative changes can affect a young population and in...

Stem cell transplantation and pterygium surgery

Pterygium is a benign, fibrovascular overgrowth of bulbar conjunctiva extending onto the cornea and has been associated with ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. The prevalence of pterygium worldwide varies between geographical zones but has been reported to range between three and...

Gene therapy for inherited retinal disease: the Manchester Ocular Gene Therapy Group MDT service

The authors describe the process set up in Manchester for the optimum delivery and assessment of a new gene therapy treatment for patients with RPE65 IRD. Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are the second commonest cause of severe visual impairment in...

Amnion-assisted conjunctival epithelial redirection (ACER): Enhancing stem cell transplantation treatment of total limbal stem cell deficiency

An exploration of Professor Harminder Dua’s recent work using a technique called amnion-assisted conjunctival epithelial redirection (ACER) to aid the success of conjunctival-limbal grafting procedures. ACER provides a refined way to use amniotic membrane (amnion), such as Omnigen® (NuVision® Biotherapies,...

Sickle cell eye disease: an overview of vitreoretinal complications and their surgical management

Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disorder worldwide and is associated with lifelong anaemia, intermittent pain and multi-organ morbidity. Ocular involvement can be associated with significant visual impairment due to the complications of proliferative sickle retinopathy (PSR). Occasionally...

Regulatory drug evaluations and expedited review initiatives: EU and US perspectives

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) each conduct independent assessments of benefit-risk profile when evaluating applications to market new or modified medicines, and their respective decision-making is guided by distinct legislation, procedures and...