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Renewed momentum in ocular gene and cell therapy, broadening application to chronic disease

Gene and cell therapies offer the prospect of ground-breaking new avenues for the treatment of diseases, reflected in a renewed explosion of interest and investment in retinal gene therapy. Rod McNeil reports recent clinical trial readouts across a diverse range...

It’s not all about ARED - Time for a pragmatic approach to nutrition for eye health?

Advances in treatment for retinal diseases involving neovascularisation have undoubtedly changed the future of eye care across the UK for the better, but also created great challenges for service delivery in ophthalmology, particularly within the NHS. Some statistics are starting...

Preoperative povidone iodine: weighing the risks

Following on from our recent online survey, the authors examine the potential risks and benefits of diluting the concentration preoperative povidone iodine. Povidone iodine (PI) is an iodophore that has an established use as a broad-spectrum antiseptic, mainly for the...

Pathway innovations to address cataract services post-COVID-19

Background The demand for cataract services prior to the COVID-19 pandemic was already recognised to be high and growing - in the face of an ageing population and reduced surgical thresholds. When added to the growth in demand for ophthalmic...

Identifying life-threatening uveal melanoma: A directed application of general-purpose AI

Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare but aggressive eye cancer, affecting approximately six people per million annually [1]. Uveal melanoma arises in three locations: the choroid, ciliary body, and iris. As the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults, UM...

The bionic eye – behind the headlines

Multiple visual prosthetic projects and other vision regeneration initiatives being tested in preclinical and clinical development worldwide illustrate continuing progress and opportunities in addressing profound blindness from hereditary retinal diseases and other causes (Table 1). Three implantable bionic vision systems...

Contemporary glaucoma therapy: spoilt for choice

The goal of glaucoma management is to prevent visual loss and disease progression in the patient’s lifetime through effective lowering of intraocular pressure (IOP), the primary modifiable risk factor in glaucoma. Sustained and consistent IOP reduction is key to halting...

Management of retinal diseases: highlights from the AAO 2019 Retina Subspecialty Day Meeting

The author highlights current debate, opinion and late breaking developments in the management of retinal diseases. The American Academy of Ophthalmology’s 2019 Retina Subspecialty Day Meeting was held on 11-12 October, 2019 in San Francisco, USA. Established and emerging innovative...

Retinoblastoma management update (part 1): clinical features, diagnosis and genetics

The first of a two part series, this article will discuss the clinical features, diagnosis and genetic aspects of retinoblastoma. Manoj Parulekar is based at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, one of the two designated national retinoblastoma and paediatric ocular oncology treatment...

Regulatory drug evaluations and expedited review initiatives: EU and US perspectives

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) each conduct independent assessments of benefit-risk profile when evaluating applications to market new or modified medicines, and their respective decision-making is guided by distinct legislation, procedures and...