EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/511377
75 May 2015 EW MEETING REPORTER Dr. Price said the challenge for cornea experts at WCC in 2025 will be that the most common cause of corneal decompensation will be tubes: There will thus be "a lot of repeat grafts," and surgeons need to learn how to handle those cases. Editors' note: Dr. Price has financial interests with Bausch + Lomb. Opening ceremony highlights the past, present, and future of the Cornea Society World Cornea Congress VII officially kicked off with its opening ceremo- ny, featuring an address by Cornea Society president Christopher J. Rapuano, MD, Philadelphia. Dr. Rapuano highlighted the history of the Cornea Society and World Cornea Congress meetings and the direction the society hopes to go in the future. The Cornea Society was estab- lished in 1975 with just 60 mem- bers, Dr. Rapuano said, but grew to 375 members in 1990 and has almost 1,000 members today. The society has always had international members, and over the past 10 years has made a concerted effort to have a presence at international meetings and encourage membership from doctors all around the world, Dr. Rapuano said. Today, the Cornea Society has members from 44 coun- tries, and World Cornea Congress VII attendees represent more than 60 different nations. The society's most important new venture has been taking on the Cornea Fellows Summit, Dr. Rapuano added. This weekend-long educational meeting provides train- ing for 55 cornea fellows, well over half the number of cornea fellows in the U.S., he said. The summit in- cludes lectures and wet labs, includ- ing those for making femtosecond laser LASIK flaps and a variety of endothelial keratoplasty insertion techniques. Following Dr. Rapuano's address was a performance by the world's first 3D dance troupe, Freelusion. Established in 2009 in Hungary, Freelusion combines video and projection mapping technology with interactive dancing, taking the audience into virtual reality by using high-end technology com- bined with stunning professional dance. Freelusion's unique perfor- mance celebrated the many nations represented at World Cornea Con- gresses past and present. Editors' note: Dr. Rapuano has no financial interests related to this article The past, present, and future of limbal stem cell transplantation At the "Ocular Surface Disease" session, Edward J. Holland, MD, Cincinnati, presented the keynote lecture, "Limbal Stem Cell Deficie - cy: A Historical Perspective: Past, Present, and Future." Dr. Holland described how management of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) has changed dramatically over the last several decades as physicians have gained a deeper understanding of the anat- omy and physiology of the limbus. Jose Barraquer, MD, pioneered the first ocular surface transplantation techniques, describing an autograft procedure for superficial burns at the first World Cornea Congress in 1964. Dr. Barraquer described "epi- thelial limbus, conjunctivocorneal [cells] taken from the other eye." The ocular surface transplantation technique didn't take off, however, until the 1970s and 1980s, when cornea specialists began to under- stand the location and function of limbal stem cells and the critical role of the conjunctiva in ocular surface disease and LSCD. Physicians began to use limbal stem cell transplantation clinically in the late 1980s and early 1990s, continued on page 76