Ophthalmology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Efficacy and safety of intravenous secukinumab in noninfectious uveitis requiring steroid-sparing immunosuppressive therapy.
Secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, exhibited promising activity in a proof-of-concept study when administered in intravenous (IV) doses to patients with active, chronic, noninfectious uveitis. This study compared the efficacy and safety of different IV and subcutaneous (SC) doses of secukinumab in patients with noninfectious uveitis. ⋯ Intravenous secukinumab was effective and well tolerated in noninfectious uveitis requiring systemic corticosteroid-sparing immunosuppressive therapy. Greater activity with IV dosing suggests that patients may not receive sufficient drug with SC administration. High-dose IV secukinumab may be necessary to deliver secukinumab in therapeutic concentrations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Darapladib, a lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 inhibitor, in diabetic macular edema: a 3-month placebo-controlled study.
To investigate the potential of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 inhibition as a novel mechanism to reduce edema and improve vision in center-involved diabetic macular edema (DME). ⋯ Once-daily oral darapladib administered for 3 months demonstrated modest improvements in vision and macular edema that warrant additional investigation of this novel lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 inhibitory mechanism for the treatment of DME.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Local anesthetic agents for vitreoretinal surgery: no advantage to mixing solutions.
To compare the efficacy of lidocaine, bupivacaine, and a mixture of both in patients undergoing peribulbar anesthesia for vitreoretinal surgery. ⋯ In peribulbar anesthesia, 0.5% bupivacaine solution provides better quality of anesthesia than does combination 2% lidocaine and 0.5% bupivacaine in patients undergoing vitreoretinal surgery.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Safety of intravitreal ocriplasmin for focal vitreomacular adhesion in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration.
The evaluation of the safety and preliminary efficacy of 125 μg ocriplasmin intravitreal injection in patients with focal vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) and exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). ⋯ Ocriplasmin treatment in this population seems to be generally safe and well tolerated and resulted in more patients achieving VMA resolution and PVD with less anti-VEGF use compared with sham treatment.
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To review data for ophthalmologists published online from the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. ⋯ A large amount of data were released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the Physician Payment Sunshine Act. In ophthalmology, mean and median payments per physician did not vary greatly from other surgical subspecialties. Most single payments were less than $100, and most physicians received less than $500 in total payments. Payments for consulting made up the largest category of spending. How this affects patient perception, patient care, and medical costs warrants further study.