19TH ESCRS WINTER MEETING ISTANBUL

Delegates from 88 countries around the world defied snow to attend the 19TH ESCRS Winter Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. More than 1,800 delegates registered for the meeting, and this number was especially commendable as many doctors had to change their travel plans after unseasonal blizzards forced the temporary closure of Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport in the run-up to the meeting.

ESCRS president Roberto Bellucci said the society was very pleased to return to Istanbul for the second time in five years, and to once again join with colleagues from the Turkish Ophthalmology Society, Cataract & Refractive Surgery Section.

“The scientific programme included an extended didactic programme, with courses in Basic Optics, Cataract, Refractive and Cornea,” said Dr Bellucci.

“We also had a Young Ophthalmologists Programme which proved to be very successful. We hope these courses offered a valuable opportunity for residents and those in training to gain a deeper understanding of the basics of the different subspecialties,” he said.

This year’s programme also included four main symposia, live surgery, free paper sessions, ePoster presentations and a range of surgical skills training courses.

The annual Cornea Day meeting was organised once again in conjunction with EuCornea. The Turkish Ophthalmology Society presented their own symposium on the last day of the meeting.

“We would like to thank Fatih Mehmet Mutlu and his colleagues at Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Hospital for their organisation of the live surgery session,” said Dr Bellucci. “I enjoyed meeting so many friends and colleagues in Istanbul and I hope you enjoyed the programme that we organised,” he added.

For more news from Istanbul visit www.eurotimes.org