Specialties

Elevated BP readings at the doctor’s office linked to higher mortality than for those with consistently normal blood pressure.

Pooled analysis from two randomized trials shows significant differences in effects on two groups.

Study looks at whether intensive BP lowering can increase the risk of CKD.

High blood pressure and prediabetes together may do more harm to the body than either one alone.

Medication use may be associated with increased risk of mortality.

In results of five trials, effects of antihyperglycemic drug found to occur during first few months or years.

Software provides screening decision without need for a clinician to interpret image or results.

By A. Paul Chous, MA, OD, FAAO, CDE

The FDA just gave first approval to an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for the detection of diabetic retinopathy in the offices of non-ophthalmic health care practitioners. Dubbed the IDx-DR (IDx, LLC, Coralville, Iowa), and paired with a Topcon NW400 non-mydriatic retinal camera, captured images are sent to a cloud-based server that utilizes the IDx-DR software and a ‘deep learning’ algorithm to detect retinal findings consistent with diabetic retinopathy based on autonomous comparison with a large dataset of representative fundus images.

In this week's Homerun Slides, understanding blood pressure classification.

Method to identify prediabetes found to impact risk of heart disease or death.