Concern has been raised that cataract surgery may be associated with the incidence or worsening of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Park and coauthors evaluate the associations between cataract surgery and AMD in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, including results for cataract surgery status and AMD grading among 20 419 participants. The analyses did not identify any association between cataract surgery and any form of AMD except in left eyes, where cataract surgery was associated with late AMD, which might be a chance finding. The results do not provide evidence to support an association between cataract surgery and AMD among this Asian population in the current era of phacoemulsification.
Invited Commentary
Because women in ophthalmology are growing in number and professional ties to industry represent another potential means of career advancement and income, Reddy and coauthors evaluate the representation of women among ophthalmologists receiving industry remuneration for research, consulting, honoraria, grants, royalties, and faculty/speaker roles. The authors reviewed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database for payments to ophthalmologists by biomedical companies for representation, median payments, and mean payments by women and men for industry relationships. In 2014, 255 women (6%) had industry ties compared with 1263 men (7.4%). Mean payments to women were $14 848 compared with $30 513 for men, and median payments to women were $3750 compared with $5000 for men.
Author Audio Interview and Continuing Medical Education
In a cohort cost-effectiveness study of 3429 children in San Francisco, California, who underwent visual chart screening in the 2009-2012 academic years, 175 children were referred for community-based follow-up and 104 attended. Of 204 children referred for mobile follow-up, 112 attended. In multivariate analysis by Lowry and de Alba Campomanes, community-based follow-up was more cost-effective than mobile follow-up, with typical savings of $112 per case detected. The authors concluded that community-based eye care professionals may provide more cost-effective care than a mobile eye examination unit visiting preschool among children with failed preschool-based visual screening.
Invited Commentary
Continuing Medical Education
The association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms with angiographic features of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has been inconsistent in previous studies. Maguire and coauthors conduct a cross-sectional study in which 835 patients provided blood samples from July 2010 through September 2011 in the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials. They found that CFH, ARMS2, and C3 were associated with specific features of neovascularization at the time patients were enrolled. Previously identified associations of ARMS2 and CFH with type of choroidal neovascularization on fluorescein angiography were not confirmed.
Invited Commentary
Journal Club