Advancing technology

Responding to members’ increasing need to keep up with rapidly advancing ophthalmic technology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery has greatly expanded its education programmes, outgoing president Robert Cionni MD told the opening session of the 2016 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in New Orleans, USA.

These include more regional meetings and webinars, as well as annual meeting clinical seminars, said Dr Cionni, of Salt Lake City, USA. Dr Cionni thanked industry supporters for helping make new programming possible with $4.5million in educational grants this year. Other popular ASCRS programmes are the online intraocular lens (IOL) power calculators, used 145,000 times last year; and the annual clinical survey, which used responses from 2,000 surgeons to help identify helpful education topics.

Later this year the ASCRS•ASOA 365 App will launch, connecting members directly to free online learning and CME, and information on upcoming seminars, said incoming ASCRS president Kerry Solomon MD, of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA, in his inaugural address. “We are working hard to find new ways for you to get involved with ASCRS,” he said.

Dr Solomon also encouraged members’ political involvement, noting that ASCRS leadership in legislative and regulatory efforts can benefit patients and surgeons. Recent victories include heading off a proposed cut in cataract surgery payment through the national medicare insurance programme for senior citizens. However, preserving access to care and reasonable compensation for physicians is an ongoing battle requiring constant attention and support from members, who are among the best patient advocates, he noted.

EUROPEAN PRESENCE

In a symposium highlighting research and developments in Europe, Carlos Lisa MD, Spain, presented information on intraoperative optical coherence tomography in corneal surgery. Real-world uses for this advanced imaging technology include assessing cannula depth in anterior lamellar keratoplasty to avoid creating incomplete delamination bubbles,
and assessing grafts and stroma in endothelial keratoplasty.

A new toric IOL from Ophtec, which is more tolerant of slight axis misalignment, was also presented by José Güell MD, of Barcelona, Spain. Twelve-month results from photorefractive intrastromal corneal crosslinking (PiXL), a targeted corneal crosslinking procedure intended to improve refractive outcomes, showed some benefit, but requires more development, said Anders Behndig MD, Umeå, Sweden.

Rudy MMA Nuijts MD, PhD, Maastricht, The Netherlands, presented interim data from the ongoing ESCRS-sponsored PREMED study comparing corticosteroids with combined nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) corticosteroid treatment for preventing cystoid macular oedema after cataract surgery. The masked data hint at better visual outcomes for diabetic patients who receive NSAID therapy, but little difference for the general population, Dr Nuijts said. He anticipates presenting the final unmasked results at the ESCRS Congress in 2017.