EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/194331
October 2013 better clinical and microbiological outcomes than the voriconazole group, much of that due to improved results in the Fusarium cases. Corneal scraping, which removed the epithelium and necrotic material, also allows for better penetration of the topical antifungals, Dr. Alfonso said. "Repeated scrapings may affect the final visual acuity outcome," he said. There is some evidence that early keratoplasty eradicates infection in 93% of patients as well, Dr. Alfonso added. Keeping current The sheer number of reading material offered to help surgeons keep updated is overwhelming, according to the surgeon who gave the PAAO's Gradle Lecture, titled "Keeping Current in the 21st Century: Strategies and Technology." "You'd have to read 153 articles a day to keep up," shared Eduardo P. Mayorga Argañaraz, MD, Buenos Aires, Argentina. A didactic lecture may lose an audience's attention and make it hard for them to retain information, Dr. Argañaraz said. "For learning to occur you need learners to be able to do the processing phase," he continued. "One way of doing this is with interactivity in lectures." "Books and lectures are not enough to convert beginners into experts," he said. "How can we keep updated? We have a lot of access, but we don't have the time." Surgeons now can attend lectures electronically anywhere in the world, he said. Textbooks don't have to be hauled around, they can be downloaded on phones or tablets. "The internet has come to save us," Dr. Argañaraz said. Thursday, Aug. 8 PAAO continued Thursday with sessions and courses covering all parts of the eye, as well as a special symposium that brought together four major cornea organizations. Moderator Mark J. Mannis, MD, California, gave the keynote address at the Joint Cornea symposium, overseen by the Pan-American Cornea Society (PanCornea), EuCornea, Asia Pacific Cornea, and the Cornea Society. His talk focused on the history of corneal transplantation. "It's a procedure that has been attempted for almost 300 years, and we live in an era where it is quite successful," Dr. Mannis said. Early on, successful keratoplasty wasn't possible because surgeons didn't have the right tools to per- form the complex procedure. That changed when German ophthalmologist Arthur von Hippel created the von Hippel mechanical trephine. "In 1864, this was the femtosecond laser of ophthalmology," Dr. Mannis said. "It completely changed keratoplasty." EW MEETING REPORTER 111 Endothelial keratoplasty continued The majority of the session focused on endothelial keratoplasty, where surgeons discussed techniques, indications, complications, and more. Harminder S. Dua, MD, U.K., told attendees that a distinct layer exists in the posterior stroma that is different from the Descemet's membrane. Prof. Dua and colleagues were continued on page 112