EEJCC, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
From ophthalmologists in space to the retinal and eye growth benefits of caffeine, these are the news stories and studies that caught our attention this week…
NICE approval. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has approved Vabysmo (faricimab) for adults with visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to branched and central retinal vein occlusion (BRVO and CRVO). Link
Polaris dawn. Last week, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the Polaris Dawn on a multi-day mission into space. The crew will travel to the highest altitude within Earth’s orbit since the Apollo program. Joining them onboard is Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Prem Subramanian, who has been enlisted to document any spaceflight-associated vision changes in the astronauts. Link
iCare upgrade. iCare has launched its iCare ST500™ Slit Lamp for monitoring patients’ intraocular pressure. The company has announced the device as “a new era in slit lamp tonometry.” Link
Glaucoma and stress links. Researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of California San Diego have indicated that chronic stress could increase the risk of a patient developing glaucoma. Examining data gathered from participants of the National Institutes of Health All of Us (AoU) Research Program, the study suggests that Black and Hispanic communities could be disproportionately affected by this correlation, a fact that in turn contributes to widening racial disparities in glaucoma burden. Link
CBS in low vision patients. An International Ophthalmology study conducted by German scientists from the Klaus Heimann Eye Research Institute has attempted to further explore Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) occurrence rates in low-vision patients by looking at individuals with a visual acuity ≥ 0.5 logMAR. The study found that 26 percent of this cohort were found to have CBS, suggesting that the condition is indeed common in this demographic to the point where its prevalence constitutes clinical relevance. Link
Damn fine coffee. A new IOVS study has investigated the acute effects of oral caffeine intake (300 mg) on retinal responses using a placebo-controlled, double-masked, crossover design with 24 young adults. Researchers from the New England College of Optometry, Boston, Massachusetts, and the University of Granada, Spain, measured retinal activity using global-flash multifocal electroretinograms (gfmERG) at different contrast levels (95 percent, 50 percent, and 29 percent). They found that caffeine significantly increased the inner electro-retinal activity in young adults for the high and medium contrasts. The results indicate that caffeine enhances inner retinal activity, which may potentially play a role in the mechanisms involved in eye growth and myopia control. Link
