Eyeworld

EW MEETING REPORTER 62 April 2011 Reporting live from APAO 2011, Sydney, Australia Editors' note: This Meeting Reporter contains original reporting by the EyeWorld news team. Non-Darwinian: The evolution of corneal surgery The APAO describes the De Ocampo Lecture as the "highest award for ex- cellent academic achievements" awarded to "ophthalmologists from the Asia-Pacific region who have an outstanding clinical or basic research background." The award is named after Geminiano De Ocampo (1907– 1987), the "Father of Modern Philip- pine Ophthalmology." This year, the honor of deliver- ing the De Ocampo Lecture went to Charles McGhee, M.D., Ph.D., founding director, New Zealand Na- tional Eye Centre, Auckland, and chairman of the Scientific Program Committee for this Congress. In his lecture, "The non-Dar- winian evolution of lamellar corneal transplantation," Dr. McGhee went briefly through the history of cornea surgery, from its murky beginnings in Ancient Egypt and Greece, Me- dieval England and the "Dark Ages" before the 1700s, to his own per- sonal experiences performing DSEK. While cataract surgeons already had "all that cool gear" by 1750, with the field having evolved to the point of extracapsular cataract ex- traction, corneal surgeons did not even acquire their own technical vo- cabulary until 1824, when Franz Reisenger coined the term "kerato- plasty." From that point on, corneal surgery moved forward slowly, in fits and starts. That is until 1947, when what Dr. McGhee called the "Golden Age of Penetrating Keratoplasty" began. During this period, surgeons began proposing lamellar ap- proaches, but it was PK that was re- fined to the point of achieving 95% 10-year success in keratoconus. Finally, in 1995, the idea of lamellar corneal transplantation was revived and in recent years has be- come the preferred approach—at least for certain corneal conditions. Looking forward to the next phase in the field's evolution, Dr. McGhee said that cellular ap- proaches to corneal disease are now being developed. APAO Sydney 2011 continued March 21, with highlights such as the 2011 De Ocampo Lecture and laboratory eye research symposiums including one embedding the 2011 Arthur Lim Lecture. APAO continued from page 61 APAO secretary general Dennis Lam, M.D., "the region is still home to 65% of the world's poor and un- derprivileged." APAO, said Dr. Lam, is "ready to take on all the challenges that lie ahead, especially in the prevention and elimination of unnecessary blindness for the needy." Information dissemination is an essential part of APAO's strategy to meet this need. Dr. Martin said, "The battle against blindness can only be won by the dissemination of knowledge through education and training." The Congress is a key element of that strategy, "providing ample op- portunities for professional and sci- entific exchange while serving as an important platform for networking," said Dr. Lam. Dr. Lam also an- nounced the addition of a new weapon to APAO's armamentarium: the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthal- mology, to be launched in July this year. Recognizing excellence among its ranks, the APAO gives out several awards annually, including eight named awards: the ICO Golden Apple Award, this year presented to Dr. Lam; the Arthur Lim Award, pre- sented to Ningli Wang, M.D.; the Nakajima Award, presented to Yasuo Yanagi, M.D.; the Susruta Lecture, to Nadeem Hafeez Butt, M.D.; the Holmes Lecture, to Prin RojanaPongpun, M.D.; the De Ocampo Lecture, to Charles McGhee, M.D.; the Jose Rizal Inter- national Medal, to Robert Ritch, M.D.; and the Jose Rizal Medal, to Dr. Martin. continued on page 63

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