Surgical Outcomes among Focused versus Diversified Cataract Surgeons.

Purpose: Narrowly focused surgical practice has become increasingly common in ophthalmology and may have an effect on surgical outcomes. Previous research evaluating the influence of surgical focus on cataract surgical outcomes has been lacking. This study aimed to evaluate whether surgeons' exclusive surgical focus on cataract surgery influences the risk of cataract surgical adverse events.

Exclusive cataract surgical focus among ophthalmologists: a population-based analysis.

Objective: An important potential unintended consequence of the growth of surgical subspecialization is the narrowing of surgical practice among comprehensive ophthalmologists. We investigated trends in the narrowing of surgical practice and the exclusive provision of cataract surgery.

Design: Population-based, retrospective study.

Evolution in the Risk of Cataract Surgical Complications among Patients Exposed to Tamsulosin: A Population-Based Study.

Purpose: Tamsulosin is associated with intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS), an important risk factor for complications during cataract surgery. Significant efforts have been made to increase awareness of the risks associated with tamsulosin, and educational initiatives have fostered the uptake of technical adjustments to decrease adverse event rates among tamsulosin-exposed patients. However, the effectiveness of these efforts at the population level has not been studied.

Association of Cataract Surgical Outcomes With Late Surgeon Career Stages: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Importance: Evidence suggests that the quality of some aspects of care provided by physicians may decrease during their late career stage. However, to our knowledge, data regarding the association of advancing surgeon career phase with cataract surgical outcomes have been lacking.

Objective: To investigate whether an increase in cataract surgical adverse events occurs during later surgeon career stages.

New Surgeon Outcomes and the Effectiveness of Surgical Training: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Purpose: Reports have questioned the technical proficiency of newly graduating surgeons. However, objective data supporting these concerns are limited. Surgical outcomes among recent graduates are an important indicator of residency programs' ability to graduate surgeons who are ready to meet the needs of their patients.

Impact of Combination Glaucoma Therapies on β-Blocker Exposure.

Purpose: β-adrenergic receptor antagonists (β-blockers) used in the treatment of glaucoma are an often-overlooked source of systemic adverse events. Ophthalmic timolol has been associated with severe systemic adverse events including numerous cases resulting in death. In recent years the number of fixed-dose combination therapies for glaucoma has grown rapidly, and among available combination therapies only the nonselective β-blocker timolol is used as the β-blocker component.

Effect of cataract surgery volume constraints on recently graduated ophthalmologists: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Across Canada, graduates from several medical and surgical specialties have recently had difficulty securing practice opportunities, especially in specialties dependent on limited resources such as ophthalmology. We aimed to investigate whether resource constraints in the health care system have a greater impact on the volume of cataract surgery performed by recent graduates than on established physicians.

Methods: We used population-based administrative data from Ontario for the period Jan.

Drug-prescribing patterns among optometrists and nonophthalmologist physicians at a tertiary care centre in Kingston, Ontario.

Objective: To report on patterns of optometry prescribing and adherence to prescribing regulations at a tertiary care ophthalmology centre.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Participants: All new referrals from optometrists and other health care professionals to the emergency eye care service (n = 1965) between July 2011 and June 2012, as well as optometry referrals to 2 subspecialty services (glaucoma [n = 71] and cornea [n = 212]).

Strabismus surgical subspecialization: a population-based analysis.

Importance: The growing complexity of medical and surgical care has resulted in increasing subspecialization. To date, data have been lacking regarding the degree to which subspecialization has affected the provision of strabismus surgical services. This gap is important to address given the implications for health care human resources planning and educational programs.

Clinic-based glaucoma care in the era of surgical subspecialization.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of surgeon practice profile on clinic-based glaucoma care.

Design: Population-based study of glaucoma care patterns in Ontario, Canada from 2000-2010.

Methods: Using comprehensive physician services data from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan database, ophthalmologists were divided into 5 surgical practice subgroups.

Systemic effects of intravitreal vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors.

Purpose Of Review: The development of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors has revolutionized the treatment of retinal diseases. However, VEGF functions in many physiological and pathological processes. Consequently, inhibition of this signalling molecule carries the potential to cause serious adverse events.

New surgical technique for correcting tube-iris touch following glaucoma drainage implant surgery.

Glaucoma drainage implant surgery may be associated with a number of potential complications including tube malpositioning. This malpositioning may have serious sequelae such as corneal endothelial damage, chronic iritis, cataract formation or tube occlusion. Traditional management of tube malpositioning involves major surgical re-dissection and reinsertion of the tube.