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EW MEETING REPORTER 78 August 2016 Reporting from the 29th APACRS annual meeting, July 27–30, 2016, Nusa Dua, Bali loose sutures, infections, or rejection of graft. Meanwhile, if a child presents with progressive keratoconus, the obvious first choice is crosslinking, Dr. Vaddavalli said. However, he cautioned that it can cause scarring, corneal melts, and other issues, which is why it's reserved for those children who have progressive ker- atoconus. Dr. Vaddavalli added that even after crosslinking, some chil- dren show progression years later. Keratoconus seems to be presenting a little earlier in chil- dren than years ago, Dr. Vaddavalli concluded. Physicians need to treat keratoconus and associated ocular allergy to prevent progression. Essential pearls from MasterClass on biometry The APACRS offered its "Essential Biometry" MasterClass again this it seems that the average age of kera- toconus is decreasing. Common signs of keratoconus may be blurred vision, poor BSCVA, and frequent change of glasses. But the earliest sign in children is change in retinoscopy, he said. Another feature in children is associated ocular allergy. Deciding how to approach children with keratoconus depends on if they are progressive or not, Dr. Vaddavalli said. If patients are non-progressive and have good vision with glasses or contacts, you may continue this approach. But if they do not have good vision with glasses or contact lenses, a penetrat- ing keratoplasty (PK) or deep anteri- or lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) may be used. Surgical options in children are limited, he said, but the most common option would be DALK. The problem is that there can be T he first session of the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) annu- al meeting was co-hosted by the World Society of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Presentation topics included rubella, atropine for myopia progression, amblyopia, keratoconus in children, and changing paradigms of pediatric cataract management. Pravin Vaddavalli, MD, Hy- derabad, India, spoke about kera- toconus in children. He said that recently, it seems more keratoconus is being seen in children, especially in India. Keratoconus is four times more common in Asians compared to the rest of the world, he said, and it's often early onset. Additionally, if the patient is younger, the disease seems to be more severe. Based on studies, Dr. Vaddavalli said that over the last three decades, Reporting from the 29th APACRS annual meeting continued on page 80 Sponsored by

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