George O. Waring III, MD, FACS, FRCOphth, renowned ophthalmologist and expert in refractive surgery, has died. He was 73.

Dr. Waring received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, in 1967. He began his academic career in 1974 as assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, Davis. Joining Emory University in Atlanta in 1979, Dr. Waring was later principal investigator of the Emory-sponsored investigations of LASIK, receiving the first physician-sponsored investigational device exemption from the FDA.

He was adjunct professor emeritus of ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, and in private practice.

Iluvien (fluocinolone) has received marketing approval in both Finland and Luxembourg for the treatment of diabetic macular edema, developer Alimera Sciences (Alpharetta, Ga.) said in a press release.

RESEARCH BRIEFS

• Blindness and low body mass index (BMI) were significantly associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), according to a population-based, cross-sectional, case-control study of 2,067 African Americans. Emily S. Charlson, MD, and colleagues in the Primary Open-Angle African American Glaucoma Genetics (POAAGG) study recruited African Americans aged 35 years or older from low income, high unemployment, and lower education neighborhoods surrounding the University of Pennsylvania. Subjects underwent detailed interviews and eye examinations, measurement of visual acuity and intraocular pressure, and a detailed anterior and posterior segment examination, including gonioscopy, dilated fundus and optic disc examination, visual fields, stereo disc photography, optical coherence tomography, and measurement of central corneal thickness. There were 807 controls and 1,260 POAG cases; cases were more likely to have a lower BMI (P<0.01) and report a history of blindness (VA of ≤20/200; P<0.001). Controls were more likely to have diabetes (P=0.02) and be female (P<0.001). The study is published in Ophthalmology.
• Dry eye disease (DED) was strongly linked to environmental and occupational factors and constituted a major proportion of hospital-based outpatients, according to a study. J. Li and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study of clinically defined moderate-to-severe dry eye patients in a consecutive hospital-based population. Of 6,657 consecutive outpatients older than 20 years, symptomatic dry eye occurred in 635 subjects (9.54%). Of these, 532 (7.99%) were diagnosed as having DED. Women were significantly more likely than men to have DED (10.41% vs. 5.21%, respectively). Among younger men and women (56.2%), overexposure to visual display terminal constituted a major risk factor for DED. Occupational factors and exposure to adverse environmental conditions accounted for dry eye in more than half of the 532 patients. Contact lens use was implicated in young women, and a history of ocular surgeries was considered another factor in DED in older people. Hormonal changes resulted in dry eye in 163 of 371 female patients with dry eye (43.9%). Overall, the incidence of meibomian gland dysfunction increased gradually with age. The study is published in Eye & Contact Lens.
• The presence of a central hole in a posterior chamber phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) did not significantly affect the vault or refractive accuracy after implantation, according to a study. Kazutaka Kamiya, MD, and colleagues conducted a retrospective, comparative study in the eyes of patients who had central hole pIOL (Visian Implantable Collamer Lens, STAAR Surgical, Monrovia, Calif.) implantation in one eye and conventional pIOL implantation in the other eye. Quantitative assessment of the time course of the postoperative pIOL vault was conducted using a rotating Scheimpflug camera (Pentacam HR, Oculus, Arlington, Wash.). A total of 23 patients (46 eyes, mean age 31.3 years) were enrolled in the study. The amount of vault with the central hole pIOL was 603±276 μm, 552±261 μm, 539±258 μm, 520±240 μm, and 482±245 μm, at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively, respectively. Comparatively, during the same follow-up time points, the conventional pIOL vault was 585±252 μm, 550±269 μm, 514±253 μm, 485±233 μm, and 459±239 μm, respectively. There was no significant association between the pIOL vault and the refractive accuracy 1 year postoperatively. This study was published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

NEW PRODUCT BRIEFS

• SynergEyes (Carlsbad, Calif.) launched the "Transform" campaign to highlight the benefits of hybrid contact lens technology. The new campaign is aimed at consumers and eyecare providers.