Eyeworld Daily News

EW SHOW DAILY 8 Saturday, April 18, 2015 ASCRS News Today by Abbie B. Elliott ASCRS•ASOA Communications Manager and technological advances in ante- rior segment surgery. ALACCSA-R/ LASCRS is the only organization that represents all of Latin America in the subspecialty. Characterized by high scientific quality, internationally rec- ognized faculty, and the attendance of thousands of ophthalmologists, ALACCSA-R/LASCRS offers several educational meetings year-round. See ALACCSA.com for more information about the society. EW A SCRS•ASOA will offer an expanded Spanish- language program at the 2015 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress. For the first time, the meeting will be held jointly with La Asociación Latinoamericana de Cirujanos de Catarata, Córnea y Segmento Anterior/Latin American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ALACCSA-R/LASCRS). The expanded Spanish-language programming will include courses and symposia developed in con- junction with ALACCSA-R/LASCRS. The joint meeting and the expanded Spanish-language programming reflect the international nature of ASCRS and its membership, 40% of whom are from outside the U.S. "This is an exciting and pow- erful partnership that is sure to advance ophthalmology," said Richard A. Lewis, MD, ASCRS out- going president. "ASCRS continues to build international alliances as part of its effort to deliver quality eyecare around the world and here in the U.S." "Latin American ophthalmol- ogy has long been known for its innovative techniques and proce- dures," said William De La Peña, MD, chairman of the ALACCSA-R/ LASCRS Board of Directors. "We have worked hard to bring the best presenters from Latin America to this joint meeting. We're very excit- ed about the program and this new partnership with ASCRS." ALACCSA-R/LASCRS was found- ed in 1991 as a nonprofit entity whose sole purpose is to expose oph- thalmologists to the latest scientific Joint meeting to offer expanded Spanish-language programming Dr. Tan will discuss lamellar surgery in corneal transplantation in the named lecture T he ASCRS Binkhorst Lecture and medal is presented each year in honor of Cornelius D. Binkhorst, MD, to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the understanding and practice of anterior segment surgery. This year's Binkhorst Lecture will be given today at the ASCRS• ASOA Symposium & Congress' Opening General Session by Donald T.H. Tan, MD, Singapore. Dr. Tan will present on the topic of lamellar surgery in corneal transplantation. Dr. Tan said he was in utter dis- belief when he learned that he was chosen as this year's recipient. "For a long time, I've known the Binkhorst Lecture to honor IOL pioneers following in the footsteps of the great Cornelius Binkhorst, and in recent years, [I] have realized that this lecture recognizes pioneers in other forms of anterior segment surgery, such as Ike Ahmed [MD], who gave a great lecture last year on microinvasive glaucoma surgery," Dr. Tan said in an interview with EyeWorld. "But it never occurred to me that my contributions to corneal surgery could be considered for this prestigious lecture and medal," he said. Dr. Tan is the founding presi- dent of the Asia Cornea Society and was appointed as the first inter- national president of the Cornea Society in 2012. He is currently serving as the Arthur Lim professor of ophthalmology at the Duke-Na- tional University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School, and professor of ophthalmology at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medi- cine. Dr. Tan is the senior advisor of the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), immediate past medical director of SNEC, and immediate past chairman of the Singapore Eye Research Institute. Additionally, he formed the Association of Eye Banks of Asia (AEBA) in 2009. Dr. Tan has trained a number of corneal sur- geons, published hundreds of arti- cles, and has won numerous awards during his career. Dr. Tan said he sees this as a "timely recognition" for all the corneal transplant innovators in the field. He will discuss the major paradigm shift in the way corneal transplantation surgery is per- formed today, including a focus on selective lamellar keratoplasty. The ability now exists to significantly enhance graft survival and visual performance, as well as reduce major complications, such as transplant rejection, he said, by selectively re- placing different layers of the cornea instead of the traditional penetrat- ing keratoplasty (PK) procedure. "We can now effectively replace just corneal stroma, as in the deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty by Ellen Stodola EyeWorld Staff Writer Donald T.H. Tan, MD, to present ASCRS Binkhorst Lecture (DALK) procedure, or just Descem- et's layer and endothelium, as in the various forms of endothelial keratoplasty (EK)," he said. "These new forms of essentially closed eye surgery have entirely changed how we perform corneal transplantation, analogous to how cataract surgery was transformed by the transition from extracapsular cataract ex- traction to phacoemulsification." For the general ophthalmolo- gist, the changing indications and outcomes for these types of surgery will be important in comanaging the plethora of corneal diseases today, which are now becoming more mainstream, he said. "In the spirit of innovation of the Binkhorst Lecture, I will review recent advances in surgical tech- nique and technologies that have transformed our ability to slice and dice the cornea with greater preci- sion," Dr. Tan said. Additionally, he will present a paradox in which some procedures still require artisanal surgery and manual precision, in comparison to the ability to develop innovative surgical technologies and utilize cat- aract and refractive surgery technol- ogies to automate greater precision in corneal lamellar surgery. EW Donald T.H. Tan, MD

• Cover