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Biotech / Medical : VISX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Evolution who wrote (1532)	1/22/2000 7:54:00 AM
From: zx	Respond to of 1754

good info about visx that i posted in yahoo today. visx is going up because by: zxag 1/22/00 7:26 am Msg: 48517 of 48519 February 1, 2000 The 1999 refractive surgery survey was mailed to more than 900 U.S. International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS) members in September 1999 with 317 responses received by mid-October, representing 33% of the U.S. ISRS membership. The purpose of this survey was to determine the frequency of various refractive surgical procedures in the United States by ISRS members including: radial keratotomy (RK), photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), intracorneal rings, laser thermokeratoplasty (LTK), clear lens extraction and phakic IOLs. Surgeon preference of refractive procedures in specific patients, choice of corneal topographers, microkeratomes, excimer lasers and practice patterns were compared with previous years? surveys in 1997 and 1998. RK and PRK were on the decline as noted in Figure 1, while LASIK was on the rise in total volume of procedures compared with 2 years ago. Less than 1% of respondents were performing 25 or more RK or PRK procedures per month, but 45% were performing this volume of LASIK, up from 31% in 1998 and 15% in 1997. Less than 1% of surgeons were performing greater than 75 cases per month of either RK or PRK versus 16% for LASIK at that rate, up from 13% in 1998 and 5% in 1997. Procedure preference (Figure 2) among surgeons for low myopia (3 D) in a 30 year old was 2% performing RK, 4% PRK, 5% intracorneal rings and 88% LASIK. The procedure of choice for moderate myopia (7 D) was 0%, 1% and 99%, respectively, for RK, PRK and LASIK. The procedure of choice for high myopia (12 D) was 0% RK, 1% PRK and 61% LASIK. Twenty-six percent of surgeons preferred waiting on high myopes for a better surgical option, compared with 21% in 1998 and 15% in 1997. The procedure of choice (Figure 3) among ISRS surgeons for the 45-year-old +1 D hyperope was 2% PRK, 4% LTK, 70% LASIK and 24% waiting for better surgical options. For the same 45-year-old +3 D hyperope, 1% chose PRK, 86% chose LASIK and 13% chose to wait. For the +5 D 45-year-old hyperope, 20% chose clear lens extraction, 32% LASIK and 49% elected to wait for better surgical alternatives. Figure 4 notes the acceptability of bilateral simultaneous refractive surgery among survey respondents. Of surgeons doing PRK, 47% stated they sometimes or always do both eyes in the same surgical setting (down from 50% in 1998) versus 94% for LASIK (up from 83% in 1998) and 64% for intracorneal rings (not surveyed in 1998). As a measure of personal overall acceptance of various refractive surgical procedures, the ISRS members were asked if they had at any time in the past undergone specific refractive surgeries (Figure 5). It is interesting to note that in the 3 years that the excimer laser has been available in the United States, 11% of the ISRS survey respondents have had LASIK surgery performed on their own eyes, compared with less than 1% of the general population. Figure 7 notes excimer laser preferences with the Visx (Santa Clara, Calif.) laser being primarily used by 81% of respondents, 18% for Summit (Waltham, Mass.) and 1% for Nidek (Fremont, Calif.), compared with the 1998 survey results of 74%, 24% and 0%, respectively Note++ if i could reproduce the figure it shows visx is gaining market share over the past few years. since 1997 it has gone from 50% market share to 80% market share now. visx rules. VISX is a quality stock. "lasik" rules for the time being. don't be short long term. why visx will rule the market. by: zxag 1/22/00 7:42 am Msg: 48519 of 48519 look at my earlier posts. visx is going up in market share everyone else is going down. now for the important stuff- IMO. lasik's patients generally do much better recovering for the operation than rk/prk patients, ie, discomfort and suffering. in lasik surgery skill and equipment really matter when a laser is used. the surgeon has to do it right for the patient to have the best possible outcome. that means they want the best equipment. until better equipment comes along, they will not do anything to make their outcomes worse, i.e., a cheaper machine, etc. also, surgeons like to do surgery the way they have been trained to do it. they will only change to doing surgery a better way. visx is gaining market share and it will be difficult to make the doctor change. the surgeons want the best and if i had laser eye surgery so would i. wouldn't you??