The Obesity Medicine Association will host its annual conference in San Deigo from April 10-12, diving into the latest developments in obesity trends, treatment and management.
Presentations during the conference will discuss timely topics, including physical activity prescriptions, GLP-1 receptor agonists, nutrition science and addressing body image.
Healio spoke with Nicholas Pennings, DO, DABOM, MFOMA, FACOFP, FAAFP, director of clinical education for the Obesity Medicine Association and a professor of family medicine at Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, to

Optometrists in Kansas are now permitted to perform some laser surgeries under a bill signed by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on March 13.
The law allows optometrists to perform laser capsulotomy and laser trabeculoplasty.
Its enactment makes for “exciting times in Kansas,” Nate Lighthizer, OD, FAAO, FAAOMS, vice president of the American Academy of Optometric Medicine and Surgery, who testified in support of the bill, told Healio.
The law allows optometrists to prescribe and administer pharmaceutical drugs through “all routes of administration, except intraocular injections.”

The FDA granted regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation to RTx-015 for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa.
“Retinitis pigmentosa remains a significant unmet medical need, causing progressive vision loss that often leads to severe or complete blindness,” Paul Bresge, CEO and cofounder of Ray Therapeutics, told Healio. “This RMAT designation offers renewed hope for patients, enabling closer collaboration with the FDA to speed the development of our potential therapy.”
According to a press release, Ray Therapeutics is using an approach that restores vision regardless of the

Patients with up to 20 brain metastases demonstrated significantly improved daily and neurocognitive functioning with stereotactic radiation compared with whole brain radiation.
Findings from a randomized trial also showed no survival differences between radiation types, though stereotactic treatment resulted in significantly more radiation necrosis.
“For most patients with up to 20 brain metastases, stereotactic radiation should be the standard of care,” Ayal A. Aizer, MD, MHS, leader of the division of central nervous system radiation oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber

Compared with placebo, semaglutide lowered risks for adverse kidney outcomes and mortality across the chronic kidney disease spectrum, according to study data published in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
In the FLOW trial, semaglutide (Ozempic, Novo Nordisk) improved kidney outcomes and survival among patients with type 2 diabetes and CKD. Building off these findings, Katherine R. Tuttle, MD, FASN, FACP, FNKF, executive director for research at Providence Inland Northwest Health and professor of medicine in nephrology at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s

NEW ORLEANS — Results presented here showed no differences in pain scores, opioid consumption or functional outcomes among patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty who received extended oral tranexamic acid vs. placebo.
“Our study, the largest to date, is showing that extended oral tranexamic acid is probably not beneficial for the average patient,” Matthew J. Grosso, MD, of Trinity Health of New England’s Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute at Saint Francis Hospital, told Healio about results presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual

DENVER — Adolescents and adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis achieved progressive improvements in skin clearance without a plateau with the OX40 inhibitor amlitelimab, according to study results.
Amlitelimab (SAR445229, Sanofi), a fully human, nondepleting, anti-OX40L immunoglobulin G4 monoclonal antibody, inhibits T-cell-dependent pathogenic inflammation, Eric Simpson, MD, MCR, professor of dermatology at Oregon Health & Science University, said during a late-breaking presentation at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting.
“Interestingly, in a [phase] 2b study

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — In this Healio video, Alissa J. Cooper, MD, a thoracic oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the TOP trial of osimertinib plus chemotherapy in high-risk patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
The phase 3 trial included 292 patients with previously untreated nonsquamous NSCLC with concurrent EGFR and TP53 mutations. Results showed osimertinib (Tagrisso, AstraZeneca) plus chemotherapy significantly improved PFS compared with osimertinib monotherapy.
“People were talking about this because it was a randomized, prospective look at something that is intuitive

NEW ORLEANS — Percutaneous coronary intervention successfully alleviated chest pain symptoms in select patients with chronic total occlusion and reduced the frequency of anginal events, a speaker reported.
ORBITA-CTO, the first randomized, sham-controlled trial to demonstrate that chronic total occlusion (CTO) PCI can improve angina symptoms, was presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session and simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“CTO PCI is offered to relieve angina. However, the evidence for CTO PCI is largely from open-label,

Far more than a superficial epithelial problem, corneal melt is a progressive ulceration of corneal stromal tissue that can compromise the structural integrity of the eye.
Corneal melt often precedes perforation, when the melt progresses through the full thickness of the cornea and leaves the eye an open globe, a significant cause of blindness that necessitates urgent intervention (Hossain).
Causes of corneal melt include infections, autoimmune diseases, trauma, medications and severe dry eye. The two primary causes are infections or autoimmune diseases; infections are by far the largest