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Purpose: To describe the early real-world experience of physicians with an intracanalicular dexamethasone insert (DEX) in patients undergoing cataract surgery and to capture the clinical impact of adopting this therapy. Patients and Methods: 23 United States sites including Ambulatory Surgical Center Setting (ASC) and Outpatient Clinical settings. Respondents were physicians who had early experience with DEX in cataract surgery patients. This was a Phase 4 experiential cross-sectional survey study comprised of 3 sequential online physician surveys. Descriptive statistics summarized the surveys' responses to determine the early impressions of the respondents. Results: Forty-two physicians completed surveys. On average, physicians reported feeling comfortable administering DEX after placing 3 inserts (mean 2.7; standard deviation 1.9). Most physicians (92%) were satisfied with DEX, and all physicians (100%) reported that DEX improved patient compliance. Most physicians (62.5%) indicated they would highly prefer DEX over traditional steroid eyedrops for the management of post-surgical inflammation and pain. Conclusion: The surveys exploring the early use of DEX suggest that DEX is a clinically effective treatment with a rapid initial learning curve and integrates well into clinical use. Physicians had a very positive early experience with DEX, including comfort with insertion and satisfaction. DEX shows promise as a primary treatment choice of physicians for ocular inflammation and pain following cataract surgery by offering patients a hands-free innovative therapy that delivers a preservative-free steroid to the ocular surface over approximately 30 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare dry eye (DE) diagnosis patterns by season in Miami vis-a-vis the US and examine differences in DE symptoms and signs by season in Miami.Patients and methods: US veteran affairs (VA) patient visits with ICD-9 codes for DE (375.15) and routine medical examination (V70.0) from 2010 to 2013 were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the seasonal pattern of DE diagnosis. A total of 365 patients with normal ocular anatomy were prospectively recruited from the Miami VA eye clinic from 2014 to 2016 for the assessment of symptoms and signs.Results: While DE visit prevalence in Miami was about 10% lower than that of the rest of the country (22.5% vs 33.7%), Miami had roughly four times higher variability in DE visit prevalence throughout the year than the US. Peak values for DE symptoms in the Miami cohort aligned with peak DE prevalence seen in the retrospective sample, occurring in spring and fall. A similar, but less dramatic, pattern was noted with DE signs. The seasonal pattern in DE symptoms remained even after controlling for confounders including demographics and medication use.Conclusion: DE symptoms, and to a lesser degree signs, varied by month, with the highest severity of symptoms occurring in spring and fall, which corresponded with peak allergy season and weather fluctuations, respectively. These findings have important implications for season-specific diagnosis, treatment, and management of DE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]