EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/87458
Vol 8, No. 4 Cornea Society News Fal l 2012 A Cornea Society publ icat ion Cornea Subspecialty Day will explore surgical controversies during the Cornea Subspecialty Day at the AAO annual meeting in Chicago Nov. 10-13. The program, "Cornea 2012: E Pushing Surgical Boundaries, Professional Development, and Popular Opinion," will include the traditional slate of presentations on the latest developments in corneal surgical techniques, technology, and research. The organizers also added discus- sions on controversial surgical topics among the meeting's six sections. "The overall theme is expanding our knowledge and expanding our surgical armamentarium and then questioning both the utility of new diagnostic devices and questioning what has always been taught as dogma in terms of managing common condi- tions affecting the anterior segment," said Anthony J. Aldave, MD, program co-director. For example, Leon Herndon, MD, will address appropriate surgical limits in "Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery: Easy Enough for a Cornea Specialist to Perform?" in the "Anterior Segment Surgery—Out of Bounds?" section. "We selected this as a presentation because these procedures are touted as being easier to perform with a lower incidence of post-op complications than traditional glaucoma surgeries," said Dr. Aldave. "So, do you need to be a glaucoma specialist to perform these surgeries if they don't require as much This year's Cornea Subspecialty Day should attract a large crowd as the program will cover a range of topics, from surgical controversies to professional development skill to perform and are not associated with the same level of complexity as far as post-op management?" The program also will wrestle with controversial surgical questions through point-counterpoint discus- sions, such as the contrasting views of Carol L. Shields, MD, and Carol L. Karp, MD, on whether to treat ocular surface neoplasia with surgery or chemotherapy. "There is controversy in the field of cornea when one has a patient with an ocular surface tumor whether one should do surgery or try chemotherapy first," said Katherine A. Colby, MD, another program co-director. "It is a common disease that cornea specialists do see." Another change added by the program's organizers, who also include Natalie A. Afshari, MD, is an increased focus on student and early career corneal specialists. It will include Deepinder K. Dhaliwal, MD, and Elizabeth A. Davis, MD, providing aca- demic and private sector perspectives on "What I Know Now That I Wish I'd Learned in Training." The presenters will address the ethics of incorporating new surgical procedures into a practice. "Cornea is one of the subspecialties where in the last 10 years we have had a dramatic increase in different types of surgical procedures, which means that we are potentially doing things now that we didn't learn when we are in training," said Dr. Colby. "So how does one ethi- cally go about incorporating that into your practice?" Dr. Aldave said the "Professional Development and Ethics" section was continued on page 3 xploring surgical controversies and giving insights to the next generation of corneal specialists are some of the key themes