Adoption of electronic health records and preparations for demonstrating meaningful use: an American Academy of Ophthalmology survey.

Objective: To assess the current state of electronic health record (EHR) use by ophthalmologists, including adoption rate, user satisfaction, functionality, benefits, barriers, and knowledge of meaningful use criteria.

Design: Population-based, cross-sectional study.

Participants: A total of 492 members of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).

Special requirements for electronic health record systems in ophthalmology.

Unlabelled: The field of ophthalmology has a number of unique features compared with other medical and surgical specialties regarding clinical workflow and data management. This has important implications for the design of electronic health record (EHR) systems that can be used intuitively and efficiently by ophthalmologists and that can promote improved quality of care. Ophthalmologists often lament the absence of these specialty-specific features in EHRs, particularly in systems that were developed originally for primary care physicians or other medical specialists.

Incorporation of clinical practice guidelines for glaucoma into an ophthalmology electronic medical record.

Clinical practice guidelines represent the best current thinking on the management of acute and chronic medical conditions. Unfortunately, the implementation of such guidelines in clinical practice has been difficult and problematic. Electronic medical records represent an opportunity to implement guidelines.

Ketorolac tromethamine 0.5% ophthalmic solution in the treatment of moderate to severe ocular inflammation after cataract surgery: a randomized, vehicle-controlled clinical trial.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of ketorolac tromethamine 0.5% ophthalmic solution (Acular; Allergan, Inc, Irvine, California) in the treatment of moderate to severe anterior segment inflammation developing after unilateral cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation.

Methods: Only patients who exhibited moderate or greater levels of cells and flare 1 day after surgery were included in this multicenter, double-masked, randomly assigned, parallel-group study.

Prophylactic use of apraclonidine for intraocular pressure increase after Nd:YAG capsulotomies.

We evaluated the prophylactic effect of 1% apraclonidine HCl in controlling the increase in intraocular pressure after Nd:YAG posterior capsulotomy in a large, multicenter double-masked clinical trial. One hundred sixty-four patients were enrolled into the apraclonidine-treated group, and 165 into the vehicle-treated group. The incidence of increase in intraocular pressure (greater than 5 mm Hg) in the apraclonidine-treated group (7%, 11 of 163 patients) was significantly less than that in the vehicle-treated group (39%, 64 of 164 patients).

Evaluation of once-daily levobunolol 0.25% and timolol 0.25% therapy for increased intraocular pressure.

In a three-month, double-masked, randomized clinical trial, we evaluated the once-daily ocular hypotensive efficacy of 0.25% levobunolol and 0.25% timolol in 80 patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Effect of varying drop size on the efficacy and safety of a topical beta blocker.

We studied the effects on efficacy and safety of varying the drop size of a topical solution of levobunolol 0.5%. In a double-masked, crossover acute study, we administered a single drop of either 35 microL of vehicle, or 20, 35, or 50 microL of levobunolol one hour before the subjects began a ten-minute treadmill challenge electrocardiogram.

Prophylactic treatment of intraocular pressure elevations after neodymium: YAG laser posterior capsulotomies and extracapsular cataract extractions with levobunolol.

The prophylactic effect of topical 0.5% levobunolol on intraocular pressure (IOP) elevations after neodymium:YAG (Nd:YAG) laser posterior capsulotomies and extracapsular cataract extractions (ECCEs) was investigated in two separate, double-masked, placebo-controlled studies. In study 1, 42 patients received either levobunolol or vehicle 1 hour before a unilateral Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy.

Nonpalpable breast lesions: recommendations for biopsy based on suspicion of carcinoma at mammography.

Carcinoma was found in 30% (119 of 400) of biopsy specimens obtained for mammographically suspicious but nonpalpable findings. The authors reviewed the mammograms of these 400 cases without knowledge of the biopsy results and placed each examination into one of four groups based on their suspicion for carcinoma: minimal (n = 82), slight (n = 91), moderate (n = 174), and high (n = 53). In 127 cases, mammograms showed either minimally suspicious calcifications (n = 33) or minimally (n = 49) or slightly (n = 45) suspicious masses.

Levobunolol vs timolol for open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension.

A group of 162 patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension were treated twice daily for up to 15 months with one of the following topical ophthalmic solutions: 0.5% levobunolol, 1% levobunolol, or 0.5% timolol.

Comparison of the effects of timolol and other adrenergic agents on intraocular pressure in the rabbit.

The effect of timolol, propranolol, epinephrine, and isoproterenol on intraocular pressure (IOP) (measured by tonometry) were compared after topical administration in conscious rabbits. Epinephrine and isoproterenol decreased IOP in normotensive rabbits, whereas propranolol had no effect. Timolol produced only a slight and inconsistent lowering of IOP in normotensive rabbits.

Iris-supported lens implantation v. simple cataract extraction. An analysis of data.

In a study of a selected age (greater than 60) and ocularly matched population requiring cataract extraction, a perfectly executed intracapsular cataract extraction followed by the introduction of a Fyodorov Type II ("Sputnik") lens did not lead to irreversible anterior or posterior segment changes different from those seen in a group followed for from 5 to 9 years. It did lead to an incidence of implant support dislocation and to membrane formation in about 10% of cases, reducible to about 2% with correctly made lenses and the appropriate use of postoperative drugs. The incidence of corneal degeneration (0), retinal detachment (2%), and intraretinal cystic maculopathy (3%) was equal in each group.