Editorial: A Beautiful Structure Jesper Hjortdal

As my colleague Dr Soosan Jacob states in this issue of EuroTimes: “The cornea is the window to the world. It’s a beautiful structure that is also the window to the patient’s eye. It gives a crystal clear, unimpeded, magnified view of the internal structures while acting as the roof to a stable chamber, allowing uneventful surgery.” We are privileged to be cornea specialists and to be members of EuCornea, which will hold its 11th Annual Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 2-3 October 2020. As Dr Jacob also points out the cornea is a very important part of the eye for cataract and refractive surgeons, and we look forward to sharing information with our colleagues in the ESCRS in Amsterdam. Our programme is still in development but we look forward to discussing exciting developments in areas including Genetic Diagnosis & Therapy, Suturing & Gluing of Corneal Lesions, DALK and DMEK. In this issue of EuroTimes, we also look at the progress made in developing the European Cornea and Cell Transplantation Registry. ECCTR, whose partners include EuCornea, is a European Consortium that aims to build an EU web-based registry in the field of cornea. The aim of the project is to build a common assessment methodology and establish an EU web-based registry and network for academics, health professionals and authorities to assess and verify the safety quality and efficacy of corneal transplantation in ophthalmic surgery. ECCTR, established in 2016, is now up and running successfully, with data on 12,922 transplants from 12 countries already submitted for analysis. I would also urge corneal specialists to read and subscribe to the EuCornea journal JEuCornea, which promotes the study and learning of the science and practice of all matters related to the health and management of diseases of the cornea, ocular surface, tears and associated tissues of the eye. I look forward to seeing you in Amsterdam and would encourage you to visit our website www.eucornea.org for information on our Annual Congress and all of the society’s activities. Jesper Hjortdal MD, PhD, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, is President of EuCornea