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Retina specialists and trauma ophthalmologists
prepare to trade notes at joint Hungarian conference
Sean Henahan
OPHTHALMOLOGISTS with an interest in proliferative vitreoretinopathy
will not want to miss the upcoming joint conference of European
VitreoRetinal Society (EVRS) and the International Society of Ocular
Trauma (ISOT). The meeting will take place in the Hungarian resort
of Sopron in September.
The meeting, now in its third year, always features one theme which
forms a focus for discussion throughout the conference. The first
year it was retinal detachment; the second year it was the anterior
segment interaction. This year the guiding theme will be proliferative
vitreoretinopathy (PVR), an area in which the interests of both
groups intersect.
“Both EVRS and ISOT are a little different than many other
medical organisations. We don’t regard the conference as an
opportunity for speakers to show off and go on an ego trip, but
to teach others.
“We encourage our speakers to discuss not just ‘this
is how I do it’, but ‘this is why I do it’. We
offer attendees a chance to take some time out from the daily clinical
routine and consider the guiding principles behind what we do. We
have conceptualised and structured the meeting in that way,”
explained Ferenc Kuhn, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President of ISOT
and Conference Chairperson.
Another feature of the conference is ‘almost live’ surgery.
These are not your usual video demonstrations. Rather, presenters
offer unedited videos of procedures illustrating the difficulties
performing them, showing repeated efforts and unsuccessful attempts.
This ‘real life’ approach has proven to be most instructive,
he said.
The EVRS was created to facilitate dialogue among specialists from
all over Europe. The organisation strives to promote European ideas
and techniques in the area of vitreoretinal surgery. The organisers
of the EVRS also taking on more of a political role, becoming active
in politics to ensure their interests are represented in Brussels.
The ISOT is best known for standardising terminology of ocular trauma,
which has been in turmoil for years. In 1996, Dr Kuhn and colleagues
published suggested standardisation of terms in two leading journals.
Since then, the comprehensive, standardised system of eye trauma
terms known as BETT (Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology) has been
well accepted in the international medical community. Its use has
been mandated in many journals. Indeed, the joint conference requires
the terminology to be used in all abstracts and presentations.
One of the more visible manifestations of the ISOT is the world
eye injury registry, an ongoing effort to track ocular trauma around
the world. The project continues to accumulate data from an increasing
number of participants.
An important boost came when the project went online (www.weironline.org).
Participants can now upload data using free specially designed software
which allows them to conduct research and compare their results
with others.
Physician and patient anonymity are maintained using a coding system.
Membership of ISOT is not required to report to WEIR.
The Third European VitreoRetinal Society Congress/Sixth International
Society of Ocular Trauma takes place between September 13th and
16th, 2003 at the F. Liszt Cultural and Conference Centre, Sopron,
Hungary.
Sopron is in the foothills of the Alps, not far from Vienna. The
university town is famous for its Hungarian cuisine and can be reached
easily by train or car. For more information visit www.evrs.org
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