82 | EYEWORLD | SPRING 2024
C
ORNEA
T
his issue's articles
focus on some of
the toughest cases
a cornea specialist
will see: limbal stem
cell deficiency and peripheral
ulcerative keratitis. Dealing
with either of these condi-
tions is not for the faint of heart and requires
a determined clinician with a deep breadth of
knowledge and a network of specialists to rely
on for systemic care. As Edward Holland, MD,
and Albert Cheung, MD, emphasize in their
editorial, working together to care for these pa-
tients and establishing reliable referral networks
is key to caring for these patients.
Not every clinician has the time or the
experience to manage a complex patient re-
quiring multi-specialty care. This is inherent in
our field—akin to sending a patient with wet
macular degeneration to a retinal specialist or a
patient with binocular diplopia to a strabismus
specialist. The difficulty is recognizing when a
patient in one's own field needs referral care.
Equally as difficult is taking the steps to expand
your breadth of knowledge and develop a net-
work to care for these complex patients.
The articles in this issue represent a chal-
lenge to corneal specialists—a challenge to
develop the centers necessary to treat LSCD and
other complex corneal conditions or to refer
these patients to providers who have. Read-
ing them made me feel a renewed energy and
commitment to patient care, and I hope you feel
the same.
by Julie Schallhorn, MD
Cornea Editor
The toughest cases—a call to action
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