Eyeworld

Reporting from the 2016 ESCRS Congress, September 10–14, Copenhagen, Denmark EW MEETING REPORTER 148 October 2016 of our work," Dr. Spalton said, also mentioning the ESCRS observership program and exchange with ASCRS. To conclude his welcome ad- dress, Dr. Spalton acknowledged the death of Peter Barry, MD, earlier this year. Dr. Barry was a member of ESCRS since its inception, Dr. Spalton said, and was dedicated to the training and education of young ophthalmologists. In his memory, the ESCRS will have the Peter Barry ESCRS Travel Fellowship, which will give a trainee ophthalmologist the opportunity to study anywhere abroad for 1 year. The first award will be presented in 2017. José Güell, MD, PhD, Barce- lona, Spain, presented the Ridley Medal Lecture on "30 years of 'iris claw' IOLs." He described many studies, options, techniques, and advantages, particularly related to using the Artisan Aphakia IOL and Artisan/Artiflex phakic IOLs (Oph- tec, Groningen, Netherlands). Dr. Güell discussed options for aphakia and inadequate capsular support, which include angle-sup- ported IOLs, transscleral or iris-su- tured PC IOLs, or iris-fixated IOLs. He then spoke about the con- cept of "iris claw," which he said was first introduced by Jan Worst, MD, in the 1970s, and is implanted and then fixated to the iris. The Artisan Aphakia model shows that secondary iris claw IOL implantation in aphakic eyes appears With that success though, Dr. da Cruz and his colleagues looked toward totipotent stem cells that could be turned into retinal pigment epithelium. These cells were grown on a 10 µ artificial membrane and preloaded into an injector that could deliver the sheet under the affected area of the retina. Dr. da Cruz reported research that restored visual function using such a pigment sheet in both rats and pigs. A small human trial showed success at the 4-week mark and is awaiting 1-year follow-up data. Opening ceremony and Ridley Medal Lecture The opening ceremony included welcome addresses from the ESCRS president, David Spalton, MD, London, and the local host, Thomas Olsen, MD, Copenhagen. In the past year, ESCRS has had its two most successful meetings ever, Dr. Spalton said, referencing its Barcelona Annual Congress, which saw more than 8,000 delegates from 127 countries, and the Athens Win- ter Meeting, which had more than 2,000 delegates from 73 countries. Additionally, the ESCRS Congress is now the largest meeting outside the U.S., he said. He discussed the ESCRS' char- itable objectives, including educa- tion, training, research, and direct donations. "Training is at the heart definition to no evidence of endo- thelial function within 1 month of transplant, in the absence of surgical complications. Rehabilitations that can restore some loss of vision Eberhart Zrenner, MD, Tübingen, Germany, reviewed the current status of electronic retinal implants, of which there are several options. There are three general classes: epiretina, which uses a camera out- side the body and an electrode that stimulates ganglion cells; subretinal where the electrode is planted in the retina; and suprachoroidal where the electrode is placed on the choroidal layer. Dr. Zrenner discussed a couple of studies involving the AlphaAMS (Retina Implant AG, Reutlingen, Germany), a light-sensitive implant positioned beneath the fovea with a pocket battery pack that the patient adjusts for brightness and contrast, and a transmitter that is attached on the head behind the ear using a magnet system. A pilot and multicenter study found the majority of patients experienced improved light percep- tion, light source localization, and grating acuity, which was the goal of the study. Few patients experienced better reading of letters and motion perception, although the majority did not. Another technique to restore vision loss due to retinal issues, like age-related macular degeneration, is stem cell therapy. Though long-term data in a small human trial has not yet been released, Lyndon da Cruz, MD, London, discussed success in animal models and proof of princi- ples in humans. Macular translocation, which involves rotating the retina to reposition the macula, for example, showed that it was possible for fresh tissue to recover the retina with good visual results. Similarly, free retinal pigment epithelium-choroid graft showed that removing the damaged cells and replacing them with functional cells could restore vision. Both procedures, however, were too complex for the many pa- tients needing treatment for AMD. View videos from ESCRS 2016: EWrePlay.org Noel Alpins, MD, discusses new data that analyzes the flattening effects of various locations of corneal cataract incisions.

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