Eyeworld

Reporting from the 2016 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress, May 6–10, 2016 New Orleans Sponsored by EW MEETING REPORTER 78 June 2016 have been accomplished in the past year. ASCRS has reached out to its membership through focus groups and comprehensive needs assess- ment surveys to better understand some of the educational needs of the members. "Based upon what we heard, ASCRS expanded the number of regional meetings and webinars being offered," he said. Industry partners make so much of what we do possible, Dr. Cionni added, highlighting the approved educational grants, comprising about $4.5 million in funding for education. Such funding allows for rich opportunity in learning from the annual meeting and numerous other venues, he said. Last year, more than 2,000 members partici- pated in the ASCRS Clinical Survey, he added. Another valuable on-de- mand service is the ASCRS online calculators, which get 145,000 uses annually. Dr. Solomon officially took over the ASCRS presidency from Dr. Cionni during the session and spoke about how the organization was founded. ASCRS provides a venue for members from all over the world to share clinical experiences, think outside the box, learn from each other, and advocate for their patients, he said. There are several new ASCRS initiatives that Dr. Solomon said va, episclera, and sclera. There are a variety of complications associated with conjunctival tattooing, both short term and long term. Short-term complications may include headaches, photophobia, foreign body sensation, allergic reaction, infections, and globe pen- etration. Long-term complications may include granulomatous inflam- mation, uveitis, ink migration, and carcinogenic change. Editors' note: The physicians have no financial interests related to their comments. ASCRS Opening General Session The ASCRS Opening General Session began with a welcome from Edward Holland, MD, Cincinnati, chair of the ASCRS Program Committee. This 42nd annual congress has 6,000 attendees from more than 100 countries who have traveled for what looks to be our best meeting ever, he said. "Each year we strive to make our meeting better," Dr. Holland said. Following Dr. Holland's address, Robert Cionni, MD, Salt Lake City, the outgoing president of ASCRS, and Kerry Solomon, MD, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the incom- ing president of ASCRS, both spoke. Dr. Cionni highlighted some of the many important things that Dr. Suh said that she and col- leagues asked themselves if there was a role for collagen crosslinking in infectious keratitis. In order to talk about crosslinking, you have to talk about the antimicrobial effect of riboflavin and UVA demonstrat- ed in vitro in animal studies, she said. Crosslinked corneas may have increased resistance to degradative enzymes. Studies have shown that crosslinking appears to be a reason- able adjunctive therapy for corneal ulcers, Dr. Suh added. With still negative cultures, the patient did admit to having uncon- trolled diabetes mellitus. When a confocal microscopy was performed, many branching organisms were found throughout numerous scans, which was consistent with filamen- tous fungal organisms. Cultures showed Fusarium spp., and eventu- ally a penetrating keratoplasty was performed for this patient. In conclusion, Dr. Suh high- lighted the answers to 3 important questions: Is there a role for topical steroids in bacterial keratitis? Is there a role for collagen crosslinking in infectious keratitis? And what is the first line of antifungal therapy in fungal ulcers? She said there may be a role for topical steroids for certain culture positive bacterial ulcers, and preliminary reports show efficacy with crosslinking, but more clinical experience is needed. In terms of antifungal therapy, natamycin may be a better and more accessible ther- apeutic, she said. The second session of Cornea Day focused largely on a variety of cosmetic procedures. Denise de Freitas, MD, São Paulo, Brazil, highlighted the controversial topic of conjunctival tattoos. There are a number of concerns associated with these tattoos, the first of which is the types of ink used. There are der- mal tattoo inks, Dr. de Freitas said, but there are also tattoo inks that contain metals. "Another problem is the people doing this procedure have no train- ing at all," she said, and a process of trial and error is needed. There is injection into the subconjunctival space and staining of the conjuncti- View videos from ASCRS•ASOA 2016: EWrePlay.org Steven Sarkisian Jr., MD, Oklahoma City, discusses the trabeculotomy procedure and its advantages.

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