Eyeworld Daily News

2015 WCCVII San Diego Daily Friday

EyeWorld Today is the official daily of the ASCRS Symposium & Congress. Each issue provides comprehensive coverage editorial coverage of meeting presentations, events, and breaking news

Issue link: https://daily.eyeworld.org/i/497551

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 32

1 EW SHOW DAILY World Cornea Congress VII, San Diego 2015 Endothelial keratoplasty 'amazing' by Chiles Aedam R. Samaniego EyeWorld Asia-Pacific Senior Staff Writer digital.eyeworld.org F rancis W. Price Jr., MD, Indianapolis, is known for positioning his practice at the very forefront of endothelial keratoplasty. In his keynote lecture on the subject at Thursday morning's "Techniques and Technologies for Endotheli- al Keratoplasty" session at World Cornea Congress (WCC) VII, Dr. Price discussed the evolution of the procedure, beginning with a concise examination of its history, through to new perspectives from current practice and research, and on to a brief look at the procedure's future. As endothelial keratoplasty (EK) has evolved, "we've gotten more continued on page 3 EyeWorld Daily News • The official World Cornea Congress VII Daily Friday, April 17, 2015 precise," he said. This sums up a fundamental aspect of the proce- dure's technical development over the years. In the broadest sense, this precision translates into the defining difference between PK and EK—i.e., the specificity of the tissue being transplanted, from a full-thickness graft to selective, more and more specific lamellar ones. Early attempts at the procedure failed due to the use of sutures—the sutures simply did not work with the cornea's curved architecture, ulti- mately pulling through and coming out the back of the donor tissue. W orld Cornea Congress VII opened Thursday morning with the "Dystrophies, Degenerations, and Genetics" session moderated by Kathryn Colby, MD, PhD, Boston. Ken Nischal, MD, Pittsburgh, delivered the keynote address, "Genetics of Congenital Corneal Opacities: Impact on Diagnosis and Treatment." In his presentation, Dr. Nischal highlighted the short- comings of the current terminology that physicians use for diagnosing and classifying congenital corneal opacities. He shared with attendees A novel classification system for congenital corneal opacities by Lauren Lipuma EyeWorld Staff Writer a new classification system he and his colleagues have developed that better describes the phenotypes of these corneal opacities. A better phenotypic classifica- tion, he said, helps to narrow down the genetic causes of disease and aids physicians in determining the best surgical treatment options for their patients. Pitfalls of the old system Many types of corneal opacities are often "diagnosed" as Peter's anoma- ly or sclerocornea, Dr. Nischal said, but these terms inaccurately describe Dr. Price dreams of having more DMEK performed around the world to address endothelial failure. Dr. Nischal describes how "Peter's anomaly" and "sclerocornea" are inaccurate descriptions of congenital corneal opacities. continued on page 3

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Eyeworld Daily News - 2015 WCCVII San Diego Daily Friday