WELCOME TO THE PREMIERE issue of Presbyopia Physician. The pursuit of presbyopia treatments to reverse, delay, and correct or fix this inevitable refractive error is the proverbial Holy Grail in eye care. There is a palpable energy and a genuine interest in the forthcoming presbyopia treatment pipeline, which will include a handful of topical drops, a host of intraocular lens (IOL) technologies that will serve a wider group of patients, and various other interventions aimed at increasing ciliary body activity and creating greater corneal multifocality. We firmly believe that addressing the visual needs of the “presbyopia lifestyle” is eye care’s next frontier. With the changing landscape of our lifestyles driving more and more need for near vision and with the advancements in technology and medicine, we are poised to meet our patients wishes and conquer this beast of an optical limitation.

While some may end up being procrastinators, it does go without saying that preparing (to the point of overpreparation), learning the multiple perspectives, and understanding the various nuance are all essential to the success of a goal or a project. As ubiquitous as presbyopia is, we think this is the perfect time to prepare and educate each other on the presbyopia patient and the landscape of treatment options. We think you’ll find the passion that our editorial board members and contributors bring to each article is inspiring and invigorating. It has been a real pleasure to see the appetite this team shares when it comes to addressing the needs of our presbyopic patients. In our minds, this confirms the astounding unmet need for other treatment options that our patients keep asking us for every day in the clinic.

This foundational issue demonstrates respective enthusiasm across numerous areas, from use of current IOLs to future presbyopia-addressing technologies, patient education and complications management, and the economics of presbyopia management. With the exponential growth in this arena, our goal at Presbyopia Physician is not only to educate eyecare providers regarding some of the new opportunities in this sector but also to have some real conversations about the tips, tricks, tactics, and best practices around these treatment options.

We here at Presbyopia Physician look forward to giving you the know-how to best present and implement the growing options to your patients. The creation of this publication and building the collaborative team of eyecare providers behind it have been a joy. This collective effort should resonate with both MDs and ODs in various types of clinical practices, and we are thrilled to work with the Ophthalmology Management team on this very welcomed, and much needed, new publication. ■

Chief Co-Editors

Elizabeth Yeu, MD andJacob Lang, OD

Dr. Yeu joined Virginia Eye Consultants in 2013, has been a partner since 2014, and continues her commitment to residency training in Ophthalmology as an Assistant Professor at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. She is the Medical Director of the CVP mid-Atlantic and the Virginia Surgery Center, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Eye Foundation.

Dr. Lang is the lead optometrist at Associated Eye Care and is the director of their ocular disease residency program. He specializes in cornea and ocular surface diseases as well as therapeutic contact lenses and surgical co-management. He is also adjunct clinical faculty at the Illinois College of Optometry, The Ohio State University, and at Salus University.