Norman S. Jaffe, MD, a "tireless champion of the intraocular lens," has died. He was 90.

"Ophthalmology has lost one of our great pioneers. Lens implant surgery would not be what it is today without Norman's determination to do what was right for patients then and now," said ASCRS President Richard A. Lewis, MD.

Pazeo (olopatadine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution) 0.7% has been granted U.S. regulatory approval for the treatment of ocular itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis, developer Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas) said in a news release.

Approval was granted based on the results from 2 conjunctival allergen challenge clinical studies, which showed that Pazeo demonstrated statistically significantly improved relief of ocular itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis at 24 hours post-treatment compared to olopatadine 0.2% (marketed as Pataday). The safety profile of Pazeo solution is comparable to that of olopatadine 0.2%, Alcon said. In the 2 clinical studies, the most common adverse reactions occurred in 2% to 5% of patients treated with either Pazeo solution or a vehicle, and included blurred vision, dry eye, superficial punctate keratitis, dysgeusia, and abnormal sensation in the eye.

The Food and Drug Administration granted 510(k) approval for the Cyclo G6 Laser System (with delivery devices), the "first laser system designed solely for use in treating glaucoma and its symptoms," developer Iridex (Mountain View, Calif.) said in a press release.

An investigator-initiated evaluation validating the use of Tri-Moxi (triamcinolone acetonide and moxifloxacin hydrochloride) and Pred-Moxi (prednisolone acetate and moxifloxacin hydrochloride) for patients post-LASIK surgery has produced positive findings, developer Imprimis Pharmaceuticals (San Diego) said in a news release.

Research conducted at the Cleveland Eye Clinic evaluated 2 active treatment arms with a total of 60 patients randomly receiving either 1 bottle of Pred-Moxi or Tri-Moxi topical drops. There were no safety issues or adverse events, and Tri-Moxi and Pred-Moxi eye drops were well tolerated. At week 1, 47% of the patients were seeing 20/15 and 82% were seeing 20/20 or better. These percentages are comparable to what is seen with traditional post-LASIK eye drops, the company said.

In a prospective study consisting of about 200 subjects, widely used benchmark tests for dry eye were compared with the TeaRx diagnostic parameters (including Schirmer's score, tear film break-up time, staining of corneal and conjunctival epithelial cell damage, and patient questionnaires) and demonstrated "positive statistical correlations that showed many of the predicted trends and correlations" between the TeaRx and the other tests, according to BioLight (Tel Aviv, Israel). The TeaRx may improve the dry eye syndrome diagnosis by objective quantification of measures, if approved.

ENV515 is a proprietary, fully biodegradable particle replication in nonwetting templates (PRINT) particle formulation of a prostaglandin analog, travoprost, with the potential for sustained IOP reduction over as many as 6 months, and has just begun a phase 2a study, developer Envisia Therapeutics (Research Triangle Park, N.C.) said in a news release.

RESEARCH BRIEFS

• Although trabecular meshwork (TM) height is not associated with ethnicity overall, African American individuals have shorter TM heights compared with Asians and Caucasians, according to a study. Rebecca I. Chen and colleagues prospectively studied 460 eyes of 291 participants in 2012 and 2013 who had their TM measured from the scleral spur to the Schwalbe line. There were 32.2% white, 45.1% Asian, 10.5% African American, and 12.1% Hispanic patients evaluated. The mean (SD) TM height among all eyes included in the study was 836 (131) μm; TM height among white (851 [131] μm), Asian (843 [126] μm), Hispanic (822 [147] μm), and African American (771 [118] μm) participants did not find ethnicity to be associated with TM height. However, the TM heights of African American participants (771 μm) were shorter than those of white and participants, and this was statistically significant. The study is published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
• Topographic changes after primary pterygium excision were associated with pterygium size. Pterygium advancing over the pupillary area required 6 to 12 months for corneal topography restoration, resulting in slow recovery of visual acuity, according to a new study from R. Nejima and colleagues. They retrospectively assessed the effect of pterygium size in eyes that underwent excisions of primary pterygium. Pterygium size was graded according to the advancing edge position: less than one third of corneal diameter (grade 1), outside the pupil (grade 2), and within the pupillary area (grade 3). Pterygium excision was performed on 119, 338, and 105 eyes with grades 1 to 3, respectively. Grade 1 did not change in corneal irregularity, and there was no difference between grades 1 and 2, except for corneal astigmatism at 6 months. Grade 3 showed significantly higher corneal refractive power and irregularity than grade 1 until 3 and 6 months, respectively, whereas corneal astigmatism was higher over 12 months. The study is published in Eye & Contact Lens.
• Endothelial cell changes observed after intracameral vancomycin were similar to those observed after intracameral cefuroxime in cataract surgery, according to Jose L. Pérez-Canales, MD, and colleagues. In this prospective comparative case series, eyes received an intracameral injection of vancomycin (1 mg/0.1 mL) or cefuroxime (1 mg/0.1 mL) at the end of cataract surgery (n=42 patients, 60 eyes, 30 in each group). In the vancomycin group, there was a significant decrease in endothelial cell density (ECD) 1 week after surgery (P=.000), after which the ECD stabilized. In the cefuroxime group, the ECD significantly decreased 1 week after surgery (P=.000) and then stabilized. The vancomycin group did not have statistically significant changes in postoperative coefficient of variation values, but the cefuroxime group did; the former had a transient change in hexagonality, the latter did not. Postop ECD, coefficient of variation, and hexagonality values were not significantly different between the vancomycin group and the cefuroxime group. The study is published in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

NEW PRODUCT BRIEFS

• Abbott Medical Optics (Abbott Park, Ill.) has launched 2 additional powers for its Tecnis multifocal line, the +2.75 D and the +3.25 D, the company announced, with the former aimed at people who favor intermediate vision and the latter for people who favor longer reading distances. The company already markets the +4.0 D lens, for those who favor near vision.