Eyeworld

EW AAO PREVIEW 36 October 2011 by Jena Passut EyeWorld Staff Writer "Everybody gets something" from Glaucoma Subspecialty Day F rom business to surgical and medical challenges, Glaucoma Subspecialty Day at the AAO Annual Meeting promises to cover the gamut of issues associated with the disease. "Glaucoma Subspecialty Day is the best people representing the most interesting glaucoma papers that highlight all of the critical is- sues in glaucoma," said Reay H. Brown, M.D., clinical professor, Emory University, Atlanta, and president, Atlanta Ophthalmology Associates. "In one day you get an overview of all the issues, surgical and medical, that glaucoma special- ists feel are important for compre- hensive ophthalmologists." Glaucoma Subspecialty Day, which immediately precedes the AAO Annual Meeting, is titled "Glaucoma 2011: State-of-the Art Glaucoma Care for Today and Tomorrow." Kuldev Singh, M.D., professor of ophthalmology, and director, glaucoma service, Stanford Univer- sity School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif., noted that the section on "Glaucoma in the Developing World" will be somewhat new this year. "We will be hearing from people who are doing overseas work in dif- ferent regions of the world," he said. "In the developing world, even once you find glaucoma patients, the treatments are not optimal, medical therapies are often too expensive, and surgical therapies don't neces- sarily work that well. We're still hop- ing for a better glaucoma operation than trabeculectomy." Co-program director Leon W. Herndon, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology, Duke Eye Center, Duke University, Durham, N.C., said he, too, is looking forward to hear- ing about this new perspective. "It's a topic we've not attacked before, but this is obviously a global field, and I think many attendees are coming from overseas, so it's going to be nice to address some of these tough issues about how to deal with glaucoma in developing countries," Dr. Herndon said. "Hopefully, after the session, we'll have some better ideas about how we can improve the process for everyone." The American Glaucoma Society Subspecialty Day Lecture by Dale K. Heuer, M.D., titled, "Glaucoma Sur- gical Management: Is a Chance to Cut Finally a Chance to Cure?" will address the surgical issue in glau- coma. "Dale's talk is going to be a great tour de force because he has been such an important leader in surgical treatment of glaucoma," Dr. Brown said. "Anything he says is something to be listened to carefully and taken very seriously." Organizers said they are espe- cially excited about Section V, "What I'm Doing Differently Than I Was Five Years Ago," which will be moderated by Richard. K. Parrish II, M.D. "It's a great way to look at the latest changes that you can use in your practice right now," Dr. Brown said. Among other highlights, Dr. Brown said he anticipates good in- formation from the talk "Novel Methods of Drug Delivery: When Should We Be Expecting a Break- through?" by Gary D. Novak, Ph.D., which is part of Section III: Basic Science – New Understandings in Glaucoma. "That's some really exciting and innovative information," Dr. Brown said about Dr. Novak's talk. "What we need in glaucoma is medications with longer durations. If we could have a medication that would last for months rather than for part of a day, compliance would improve in- credibly. It would be a key break- through." Dr. Brown said he expects Dr. Novak to focus on punctual plug im- plants, among other innovations. Also slated for the Basic Science section, which will be moderated by world-renowned physician Harry A. Quigley, M.D., are talks by Malvina B. Eydelman, M.D., who will dis- cuss the hurdles devices are put through for FDA approval, and Christophe Baudouin, M.D., Ph.D., whose focus will be on preservatives in glaucoma medications. Innovator David G. Campbell, M.D., will give his take on unsolved puzzles in glaucoma during the same session. "David Campbell has not been [involved in] these programs in awhile, but he's really a thought leader," Dr. Herndon said. "He has looked at pigmentary glaucoma, and he's had some great ideas about the pathogenesis of different types of glaucomas. It will be good to know what he has on his mind." Dr. Herndon noted that the talk of Stanley J. Berkes, M.D., F.A.C.S., "Lid Effects from Topical Prostaglandins," should be of great interest to the audience. "He's going to be highlighting a field that's not terribly new, but more people are noticing their pa- tients flare on prostaglandins, in- cluding retraction of the lid and orbital issues," Dr. Herndon said. "I think his talk will bring to the fore- front some little-known side effects of these medications." New this year is an audience polling system, which will allow moderators to interact with the au- dience directly and assess what ques- tions they have for the panel members. Overall, organizers said that they hope attendees will find the subspecialty day, which is sponsored by AAO in conjunction with the American Glaucoma Society, both lively and informative. Orlando, October 22-25, 2011 Reay Brown, M.D. Dale K. Heuer, M.D. Harry A. Quigley, M.D. measurement of the sulcus-to-sul- cus," Dr. Moshirfar said. "If another physician refers a patient with a bad corneal ulcer that he thinks is acanthamoeba, a parasite, or some other form of fungi, doing a confo- cal microscopy helps me with those on a day-to-day basis." EW Editors' note: Dr. Asbell has financial interests with Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas), Fera Pharmaceuticals (New York), Pfizer (New York), and Vindico Medical Education (Thorofare, N.J.). Dr. Mah has financial interests with Alcon, Allergan (Irvine, Calif.), Merck (Whitehouse Station, N.J.), and Foresight Biotherapeutics (New York). The other doctors mentioned have no financial interests related to their comments. Contact information Asbell: 212-241-0939, penny.asbell@mssm.edu Brown: 858-534-8823, sbrown@eyecenter.ucsd.edu Liu: +44 7714 236688, ProfChrisLiu@gmail.com Mah: 412-647-2214, mahfs@upmc.edu Moshirfar: 801-694-5543, majid.moshirfar@hsc.utah.edu Price: 317-814-2823, fprice@pricevisiongroup.net Cutting-edge continued from page 35 continued on page 38 30-39 AAO Preview_EW October 2011-DL3_Layout 1 9/29/11 5:14 PM Page 36

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