Recruitment for new European corneal transplant registry

    Dr Mats Lundström speaking at the EECTR Instructional Course at the 8th EuCornea Congress One of the highlights of the 8th EuCornea Congress is an instructional course that will explain how and why cornea specialists should get involved with the European Cornea and Cell Transplantation Registry (ECCTR), a registry system for corneal surgeons co-funded by the ESCRS. “This course will provide a thorough introduction to the ECCTR system. It will include discussion of the project’s legal and ethical aspects as well as detailed instructions on how to report and take out data, and how to use your own data in order to improve your practice,” said Dr Mats Lundström, Sweden, who together with Mor Dickman MD, The Netherlands, will be presenting the instructional course. The ECCTR registry will collect and collate data on availability of corneal tissue, methods of transplantation, and visual outcomes, Dr Lundström. He and the registry team have so far harmonised three existing national European corneal registries, in The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, and will soon be recruiting individual surgeons and centres of excellence to participate in the project. “We are hoping that this registry will be a valuable tool for benchmarking and comparison. We know that when it comes to a specific type of surgery the best way to perform surgery isn’t always found within your own region or even within your own country. It’s definitely an advantage to have a broader international field of data for comparison,” Dr Lundström said.