macular Tag

30 Jul

Posted at 13:27h in Author Interviews, Ophthalmology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: CARL D. REGILLO, MD, FACS Carl D. Regillo, MD, FACS Chief, Retina Service Wills Eye Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for the Phase III Archway study? Would you briefly explain what Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration means?  Genentech announced in late July the results from the Phase III Archway study evaluating Port Delivery System (PDS) with ranibizumab (PDS) in people living with neovascular or “wet” age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) which showed PDS enabled 98.4% of people to go six months between treatments, while achieving vision outcomes equivalent to those receiving monthly ranibizumab eye injections, a current standard of care. AMD is a condition that affects the part of the eye that provides sharp, central vision needed for activities like reading and is a leading cause of blindness for people age 60 and over in the U.S. Neovascular AMD is an advanced form of AMD that can cause rapid and severe vision loss. Approximately 11 million people in the United States have some form of AMD and of those, about 1.1 million have nAMD. 

13 Jan

Posted at 13:13h in Author Interviews, Diabetes, JAMA, Ophthalmology
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_38910" align="alignleft" width="300"]Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436. Illustration depicting diabetic retinopathy Illustration depicting diabetic retinopathy[/caption] Eugene Yu-Chuan Kang, MD. House Staff, Department of Ophthalmology Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Chang Gung University, School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: More and more patients suffered from diabetes mellitus (DM) around the world, as well diabetic complications such as diabetic retinopathy (DR). DR is one of the major causes of blindness in working-age adults. In addition to the cost of treatment for patients with advanced DR, loss of visual function also yields a great burden to the family and society. For advanced DR, surgical interventions such as retinal laser, intravitreal injection, and vitrectomy are needed. However, those surgical interventions for severe DR can only retard or stop disease progression. If DR can be prevented or slowed by medical treatments, the burden of medical costs for treating severe DR may be decreased. Statin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, was discussed frequently in the recent years. Multiple functions of statins besides their lipid lowering effect were discovered. Previous investigations have reported that statin therapy could reduce mortality rate and decrease risk of cardiovascular diseases. In our study, we wanted to figure out if statin therapy may have any association between diabetic retinopathy. 

20 Sep

Posted at 08:39h in JAMA, Ophthalmology
Szilárd Kiss, MD Director of Clinical Research Director of Compliance Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Weill Cornell Medical College NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital New York, New York 10021MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Szilárd Kiss, MD Director of Clinical Research Director of Compliance  Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Weill Cornell Medical College NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital New York, New York 10021 Medical Research: What is the background for your study? Dr. Kiss: There has been a good deal of publicity about bevacizumab (Avastin; a Genetech/Roche antibody originally developed for treatment of cancer but now used widely to treat macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy) being prepared by (mostly unregulated) compounding pharmacies for injection into the eye, and being associated with pathogen contamination.