| Wizkid 2004-10-29, 7:16 pm |
| TOP STORIES 10/28/2004
SURGEONS MUST LOOK BEYOND THE NUMBERS TO FUNCTIONAL VISION
NEW ORLEANS — Refractive surgeons are "not asking the right questions"
to determine if their patients have good functional vision, a speaker
said during the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting here.
Kerry Solomon, MD, said surgeons need to look beyond the Snellen
chart, J score and diopters of accommodation when dealing with
patients who are looking for real world vision improvement.
"TRUTH IS NOT ALWAYS IN THE NUMBERS. We need to be looking at
functional things that allow us to have a better understanding … of
criteria that are important to our patients," he said.
Dr. Solomon said that patients who have been implanted with Alcon's
AcrySof ReStor lens have experienced vision improvement that meets
this challenge. Eighty percent of ReStor patients in Food and Drug
Administration clinical trials are not using glasses for near,
intermediate or distance vision, he said at an Alcon-sponsored
symposia. There was also high patient satisfaction with tasks such as
working at a computer and reading fine newspaper print.
"This information is far more useful than 20/20 or J1 or diopters of
accommodation," Dr. Solomon said.
"As new technologies come along, this issue will affect all our
practices. Patients want to know what the side effects are, how well
will they be reading and what can they really expect," he added.
|