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EW MEETING REPORTER 128 Reporting from the 2014 European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) Congress, London Reporting from the 2014 ESCRS Congress, Sept. 11–17, London EuCornea features key topics in cornea EuCornea, covering a number of topics in the subspecialty of cornea, took place across two days. The first day's program featured symposia on topics including comprehensive viral infectious keratitis, the management of dry eye, new and future medical treatments of corneal disease, lasers in cornea surgery, and the "Eurokeratoconus III Symposium," which explored current controver- sies and hot topics in keratoconus. Carina Koppen, MD, Antwerp, Belgium, discussed adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis in everyday practice. Generally, adenovirus can cause an array of clinical diseases. Dr. Koppen specifically highligh - ed epidemic keratoconjunctivitis, or EKC. EKC is highly contagious, and symptoms can include flu-like symptoms; sudden onset of red eye, irritation, and excessive tearing; and follicular conjunctivitis mainly in the lower palpebral conjunctiva. "The distinguishing feature of EKC is corneal involvement," Dr. Koppen said. Sometimes, EKC can be hard to diagnose, but the inflamm - tory phase shows specific signs, with subepithelial infiltrates that appear beneath the focal lesions and can persist for weeks or years. In-office tests can be helpful for diagnosis of adenovirus patients. Dr. Koppen mentioned the AdenoPlus (Rapid Pathogen Screening, Sarasota, Fla.), a quick, in-office test that takes 10 minutes and has shown high sensitivity and specificit . "It can be helpful in clinical decision making," she said. Because adenovirus is a self- limiting disease, it mostly involves management of patient symptoms. Corticosteroids are used but should not always be the default treatment plan as they increase viral replica- tion and prolong viral shedding. It is important to try to prevent transmission of adenovirus because it is easily transmitted through hand to eye contact or respiratory drop- lets, and it is a resistant virus. In the presence of adenovirus, disinfecting precautions should be taken, and those patients with the virus should remain isolated from others to pre- vent further spread. Harminder Dua, MD, PhD, Nottingham, U.K., highlighted a treatment algorithm for recurrent corneal erosion syndrome (RCES). To start to treat RCES, Dr. Dua said, it is necessary to evaluate the symptoms by determining the frequency of the episodes of pain, the duration of pain, and the intensity of pain. "Start off your treatment with a conservative approach," Dr. Dua said. This includes artificial tears, both drops and ointments; oral tetracyclines; and bandage contact lenses. If the conservative measures do not work, a physician may want to progress to a range of interven- tional treatments. Dr. Dua discussed the use of alcohol delamination, which he said is a safe and effective alternative to other treatment modalities. There are a number of advantages over other interventional treatments. It has no residual effects, it is inexpen- sive, tissue is available for further analysis and study, and the mechanism of action is partially understood, he said. EuCornea Opening Ceremony offers overview on latest in cornea The EuCornea Opening Ceremony featured welcome addresses from José L. Güell, MD, PhD, Barcelona, Spain, president of EuCornea; Carrie MacEwen, MD, Dundee, U.K., president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists; and Donald T.H. Tan, FRCS, Singapore, president of the Asia Cornea Society. The subspecialty of cornea has undergone an evolution in recent years, probably more so than any other ophthalmic subspecialty, Dr. MacEwen said, and benefits to the patients have been far reaching. This conference attracted more than 800 delegates from all over the world, and many of the contributors are global leaders in the corneal subspecialty, she said. The EuCornea Medal Lecture was also given by Dr. Güell. In the lecture, he compared deep ante- rior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) October 2014