EW SHOW DAILY
44
Tuesday, May 9, 2017
by Stefanie Petrou Binder, MD, EyeWorld Contributing Writer
"H
ot Topics" were
discussed at
Monday after-
noon's EyeCon-
nect symposium,
sponsored by the ASCRS EyeConnect
Committee, including the latest
issues on everyone's mind in both
ophthalmic surgery and business.
EyeConnect's online discussion
forum lists ophthalmology catego-
ries: cataract/refractive, glaucoma,
business, comprehensive, and young
physician, allowing members to
communicate directly with their
peers and share information with
and from experienced members.
EyeConnect representative, William
Meyers, MD, Skokie Illinois, urged
attendees to log in and participate
in an interactive Q&A during the
session, also suggesting ASCRS
members continue the discussion in
the online forum, which he thinks is
one of the most important aspects of
ASCRS membership.
The first topic addressed at
the symposium was hemorrhagic
occlusive retinal vasculitis (HORV).
HORV Task Force member, David
Chang, MD, Los Altos, California,
defended the use of vancomycin for
endophthalmitis prophylaxis in cat-
aract patients, saying that according
to his investigation, which will be
published in the May 2017 issue of
Ophthalmology, in which he studied
23 patients (36 eyes) who developed
HORV after vancomycin, HORV is
a type III hypersensitivity reaction
that is encountered very rarely. He
asked surgeons to reconsider its use
and weigh the risks/benefits.
Switching to the question of
femtosecond laser and its "neces-
sity" in eye surgery, 30% of the
attendees responded to EyeCon-
nect that they "liked femto," while
almost 50% replied that they "don't
believe in the technology." Accord-
ing to Kenneth Rosenthal, MD,
Great Neck, New York, femto is most
useful in challenging cases like pseu-
doexfoliation, traumatic cataract,
juvenile cataract, and dense/white
cataracts. He felt that femto's faster
capsulotomies, lower tissue manipu-
lation, and decreased phaco energy
spoke in its favor. In contrast, Phil-
lips Labor, MD, Dallas, who decided
to abandon the use of FLACS in his
practice, observed that according to
a study he carried out on FLACS ver-
sus non-FLACS surgeries, there was
no significant difference between
the two. The increased operative
time and surgical nuances associated
EyeConnect online
discussion forum
guides symposium
Panelists discuss "hot topics" at the EyeConnect symposium.
continued on page 46
