EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/176967
84 EW MEETING REPORTER Live reports from the 26th Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Annual Meeting, July 11-14, 2013, Singapore September 2013 continued from page 83 Following Dr. Barrett was the welcome by Donald Tan, MD, Singapore, president of the Asia Cornea Society and the Cornea Society. Dr. Tan highlighted the fact that this year was the first Cornea Day in the history of APACRS, and it was successful in bringing together speakers and delegates from around the globe to address some of the world's cornea problems. Finally, to finish the welcome addresses, the guest of honor, Vivian Balakrishnan, MD, Singapore minister for environment and water resources, spoke and expressed his pleasure in this being the fourth time that the APACRS meeting has been held in Singapore in the last 25 years. A lot has changed in the last 25 years, he said, including the advent of refractive surgery, the femtosecond laser, and phacoemulsification. All of this has led to a situation where there is an ability to operate at levels of precision that go far beyond human hand-eye coordination. He said that we need to ensure that the next generation can see and do more and continue to make a difference. This year's APACRS Lim Lecture was given by Hungwon Tchah, MD, Korea. The APACRS Gold Medal went to Ronald Yeoh, MD, Singapore; the APACRS Certified Educator (A.C.E.) went to Robert Ang, MD, Philippines; and the Special Award was given to Arthur Lim, MD, Singapore. The societies that participated in this year's meeting included the Chinese Cataract Society, the Japanese Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Korean Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Indonesian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society, India, Philippine Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of Thailand, ASCRS, ESCRS, and LACRS. Dr. Barrett said APACRS would not have been able to reach this point without the support of many people and many societies. Dr. Tchah presents the Lim Lecture Dr. Tchah delivers 2013 APACRS Lim Lecture Hungwon Tchah, MD, Korea, presented this year's 2013 APACRS Lim Lecture, focusing on the topic "Modulation of Corneal Wound Healing After Surface Ablation." Wing Kwong Chan, MD, Singapore, introduced the award and said that he has known Prof. Tchah both professionally and personally for nearly 10 years. "When you first meet him, you get the impression that this is a very soft-spoken, humble, and reserved man, an introvert. But as you get to know him better, you will realize that this man is an intense intellectual with a very broad sense of humor and wit and a very kind friend. Prof. Tchah is the quintessential strong, silent man of ophthalmology," Dr. Chan said. Prof. Tchah delivered the APACRS Lim Lecture at the Opening Ceremony and said he was honored and privileged to be chosen to give the lecture this year. He invited the audience to follow his experiences studying the modulation of corneal wound healing after surface ablation, assisting patients with haze issues, in his presentation. "It's been a long and winding road, like the Beatles song," he said. Prof. Tchah showed a slide of the progression of corneal wound healing as a cascade of events— beginning with epithelial or stromal injury and the release of cytokines. This release leads to inflamed cells, which leads to myofibroblasts— which then leads to the release of growth factors, epithelial proliferation, and finally, regression—and keratocytes, apoptosis, and eventually, haze. Corneal keratocytes play a key role in corneal wound healing, Prof. Tchah emphasized. Keratocytes become myofibroblasts and create synthesized collagens following trauma. In a rabbit study looking at LASIK and PRK results on the corneal surface at one month, "there was a decreased number of keratocytes in the early stage then increased amounts of keratocytes with a greater degree of reaction and more abnormal collagen deposits in the PRK group," he said. He said the name of his talk should be "modulation of keratocytes after surface ablation" to be more accurate with what actually occurs. Mitomycin-C has been shown to have an effect on keratocytes, he said. "There is a close relationship among corneal haze after PRK, number of activated keratocytes, and the amount of apoptosis," he continued on page 86