SECO 2008 was held February 27 - March 2, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. On behalf of SECO International, to all of our attendees, thank you for helping make SECO 2008 a successful event. SECO 2008 offered a large selection of educational courses, an expanded exhibit hall and evening social events, all of which were well-attended. We hope your experience was pleasant and we look forward to seeing you back in Atlanta next year at SECO 2009, March 4 - 8, 2009.

Remember, www.seco2008.com, will be available until June 1, 2008. You can still order audio CD-ROMs, log into your registration account, review dates, deadlines and costs for future planning, and more.

Also, SECO encourages everyone to participate in our professional needs survey conducted by Veris Consulting. Your professional experiences will help guide SECO to better serve the eye care profession.

SECO International is conducting a survey to find out what challenges face the optometric industry today, and how SECO can better meet the educational needs of optometrists and allied ophthalmic professionals in the eye care profession.

SECO has contracted with Veris Consulting, LLC to act as the confidential agent in conducting this survey. Veris will ensure the strict confidentiality of your individual data and will compile these results into a final report for SECO.

To participate in this survey, click here; alternatively, you may cut and paste the URL, http://www.secosurvey2008.com, into your address bar. The survey only requires a few minutes of your time to complete. For privacy and security reasons, you will not be able to go back and change your answers once you close your browser. You must click SUBMIT at the end of the survey in order for your survey to be counted and considered complete. This survey is conducted over the Internet; a computer and Internet connection are required to participate.

The survey only requires a few minutes of your time to complete. In consideration for assisting SECO International to better serve the profession, SECO will select 10 participants to receive a $100 American Express® gift card.

Survey participants must complete the survey to be eligible to win a gift card. Participants are limited to one entry to win a gift card prize. Participants must provide contact information to be eligible to receive a gift card. Gift cards will be awarded by Veris Consulting, the survey author.

For any questions regarding survey completion please contact Rachel Dobis at 703-654-1478 or rdobis@verisconsulting.com.

Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO
Cornea Services and Ocular Surface Disease Research Cincinnati Eye Institute

Spring allergy season is rapidly approaching. According to the American College of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology, as many as 22 million Americans suffer from ocular allergies. Ocular symptoms can significantly curtail patients' activities. One study showed that more than 70% of ocular allergy patients avoided going outdoors, and more than half had trouble sleeping.1 Patients are beginning to present with typical signs and symptoms including redness, lid swelling and the hallmark symptom of allergic conjunctivits - itch. Over 80% of patients claim that itching is their most bothersome symptom. It is important to begin thinking about how to handle the influx of this patient type.

The key clinical considerations in choosing the optimal therapeutic regimen include the length of time the patient has had the allergy and the severity of symptoms. Antihistamines with mast cell-stabilizing abilities are desirable because, theroretically, they have the potential to disrupt the allergic process and reduce the intensity of future responses. Elestat® (epinastine HCl 0.05%), a rapid and potent H1 antagonist with mast cell stabilizing and anti-inflammatory properties, offers rapid onset of action with all-day relief from allergy symptoms.

In a pivotal clinical trial, Elestat® showed rapid efficacy in a conjunctival allergen challenge model, within 3 minutes of contact with the allergen2. Ocular itching was assessed 3, 5, and 10 minutes after allergen challenge; other ocular symptoms were evaluated at 5, 10, and 20 minutes. Elestat®-treated eyes had significantly less itching, hyperemia, and eyelid swelling compared with vehicle-treated eyes at all time points (P < .001). When compared with the level of symptoms seen after allergen challenge in the absence of any drug (similar to the natural situation), Elestat® reduced itching by 81%, hyperemia by 41%, and lid swelling by 72%.

In an additional trial, Elestat® illustrated long lasting relief of symptoms at 12-hours post instillation3. This study was also a conjunctival allergen challenge model. To evaluate duration of efficacy Elestat® was administered to one eye and vehicle to the other eye 12 hours prior to antigen challenge. Itching was graded on a 0 to 4 scale 5, 10 and 15 minutes after antigen challenge. Patients treated with Elestat® reported a 61% improvement in itch at the 5 minute measurement.