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CME: Glaucoma: Optimizing pharmacotherapeutic management strategies

ACCREDITATION EXPIRED: February 17, 2022

AN ACCREDITED UP-TO-DATE VERSION OF THIS TOPIC CAN BE FOUND AT: Glaucoma: best practices and the emerging treatment landscape

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Glaucoma, a heterogeneous disease leading to progressive damage to the optic nerve, causes irreversible vision loss and affects up to six million people in the U.S., and just as many worldwide have glaucoma-related bilateral blindness. The prevalence of glaucoma is increasing, and more than 100 million people across the globe will have glaucoma by 2040. Approximately half of all individuals with glaucoma are unaware of their condition due to the asymptomatic nature of the disease. Although the incidence of glaucoma-related blindness has decreased over the last 20 years thanks to effective management strategies, 13% to 40% of people with glaucoma still develop unilateral or bilateral blindness, typically at a rate of 1.1% per year.

Among patients with glaucoma, risk factors for blindness include both unmodifiable factors (e.g. race, genetics, and age) and modifiable factors. These modifiable factors for blindness include high IOP at the time of diagnosis, poor control of IOP, and nonadherence to medications. To reduce the incidence of glaucoma-related blindness, ophthalmologists must be prepared to address these modifiable risk factors, but evidence suggests that ophthalmologists are not currently doing so.

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals (HCPs) including: comprehensive ophthalmologists and retinal specialists; physician assistants and nurse practitioners who practice in ophthalmology; and any other HCPs with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with glaucoma.


Commercial Support Disclosure: This activity is supported by an educational grant from Santen.

Learners may participate in this activity free of charge.


Release Date: February 17, 2020 -- Expiration Date: February 17, 2022

Faculty: R Hogan Knox, MD

Agenda

Faculty introduction, disclosures

Monitoring intraocular pressure (IOP) and optimizing targets.

  • Diurnal IOP measurements
  • Advances in measurement and monitoring strategies
  • Considerations for IOP targets
    • Importance of visual and structural tests
    • Comorbidities
    • When are aggressive targets appropriate?

Current and emerging treatment options for glaucoma.

  • Pharmacotherapy
    • Goals of therapy and target IOP
    • Initiation of therapy
    • Choice of agent
    • Principles of monitoring response
    • Novel medications in clinical development
    • Barriers to care
    • Patient case(s)

Summary, best practice recap, conclusion

Learning Objectives

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

  • Individualize intraocular pressure targets based on known risk factors and patient-specific characteristics, and optimize assessment of intraocular pressure profiles to readily identify peaks and fluctuations
  • Identify first-line pharmacotherapies, laser therapies, and glaucoma implants for lowering intraocular pressure, and select appropriate monotherapies and combination therapies for patients
  • Discuss present and emerging pharmacotherapies currently in clinical development and their mechanisms of action, and apply those therapies to patient cases
  • Describe barriers to care in the treatment of patients with glaucoma and what clinicians may do to aide patients in circumventing them

Accreditation

ACCREDITATION FOR THIS COURSE HAS EXPIRED. YOU MAY VIEW THE PROGRAM, BUT CME / CE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE AND NO CERTIFICATE WILL BE ISSUED.


Faculty Disclosure and Resolution of COI

As a provider of continuing medical education, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. In accordance with this policy, faculty and educational planners must disclose any significant relationships with commercial interests whose products or devices may be mentioned in faculty presentations, and any relationships with the commercial supporter of the activity. The intent of this disclosure is to provide the intended audience with information on which they can make their own judgments. Additionally, in the event a conflict of interest (COI) does exist, it is the policy of ScientiaCME to ensure that the COI is resolved in order to ensure the integrity of the CME activity. For this CME activity, any COI has been resolved thru content review ScientiaCME.

Faculty Disclosure: Dr. R Hogan Knox, MD, University of Alabama,  has no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose. 

Disclosures of Educational Planners: Charles Turck, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, President of ScientiaCME, has no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose.

Commercial Support Disclosure: This activity is supported by an educational grant from Santen.

Instructions

  • Read the learning objectives above
  • Take the Pre-Test (optional). Completion of the pre-test will help us evaluate the knowledge gained by participating in this CME activity.
  • View the online activity. You may view this is in more than one session, and may pause or repeat any portion of the presentation if you need to.
  • Minimum participation threshold: Take the post-test. A score of 70% or higher is required to pass and proceed to the activity evaluation.
  • Complete the activity evaluation and CME registration. A CE certificate will be emailed to you immediately.

Cultural/Linguistic Competence & Health Disparities

System Requirements

PC
Windows 7 or above
Internet Explorer 8
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
MAC
Mac OS 10.2.8
Safari or Chrome or Firefox
*Adobe Acrobat Reader
Internet Explorer is not supported on the Macintosh

*Required to view Printable PDF Version


Perform Pre-Test (optional)

Please take a few minutes to participate in the optional pre-test. It will help us measure the knowledge gained by participating in this activity.


Additional Courses That Are Related To This Activity

Glaucoma: Updates from the AAO 2019 Annual Meeting

Dry Eye Disease: Therapeutic Updates and Optimizing Treatment