EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
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42 EW AAO PREVIEW October 2012 November 10-13, 2012 Cornea Subspecialty Day by Rich Daly EyeWorld Contributing Writer matic increase in different types of surgical procedures, which means that we are potentially doing things now that we didn't learn when we were in training," said Dr. Colby. "So how does one ethically go about in- corporating that into your practice?" This topic will be discussed by Roberto Pineda, M.D., a member of the AAO Ethics Committee. Dr. Aldave said the "Professional E xploring surgical controversies and giv- ing insights to the next generation of corneal specialists are some of the key themes during the Cornea Subspecialty Day at the AAO annual meeting in Chicago. The program, "Cornea 2012: Pushing Surgical Boundaries, Profes- sional Development, and Popular Opinion," will include the tradi- tional slate of presentations on the latest developments in corneal surgical techniques, technology, and research. The organizers also added discussions 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 conditions affecting the anterior segment," said Anthony J. Aldave, M.D., program co-director. For example, Leon Herndon, M.D., will address appropriate surgi- cal 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 presenta- tion 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 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, M.D., and Carol L. Karp, M.D., 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 Kathryn A. Colby, M.D., another program co-director. "It is a com- mon disease that cornea specialists do see." Another change added by the Chicago fun fact The Art Institute of Chicago has one of the largest and most extensive collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in the world Source: Explore Chicago program's organizers, who also in- clude Natalie A. Afshari, M.D., is an increased focus on student and early career corneal specialists. It will include Deepinder K. Dhaliwal, M.D., and Elizabeth A. Davis, M.D., providing academic 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 dra- Development and Ethics" section was added partly as an acknowledge- ment that roughly one-quarter of attendees are either in training or recently out of training. Another talk in this section that Dr. Aldave highlighted is "Improv- ing Your Odds of Getting Published" by R. Doyle Stulting, M.D. The meeting will challenge some of corneal specialists' surgical conventions during the "Contrary to Popular Opinion" section. That includes "Endothelial Keratoplasty Mythbusters: When 'Common Knowledge' is Wrong," by Mark A. Terry, M.D. "I've heard Dr. Terry talk on this topic before, and he makes excellent points, always in his own words as one who is driven by data," Dr. Aldave said. "His talk will be especially enlightening and remind us all that we should strive to practice evidence-based medicine." The more traditional sections will start with "Management of Ocu- lar Surface Diseases—Show Me the Evidence," which includes "Thermal Pulsation and Intense Pulsed Light Therapy for Blepharitis" by James P. McCulley, M.D. The section titled "Anterior Segment Surgery— Expanding Your Reach" will begin with Sadeer B. Hannush, M.D., and Vincenzo Sarnicola, M.D., providing differing perspectives on whether the big bubble technique or predescemetic dissection is prefer- able in deep anterior lamellar kerato- plasty. For a complete list of the sessions and presenters, visit www.aao.org. EW Editors' note: Dr. Aldave has financial interests with Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas), Allergan (Irvine, Calif.), and Merck (Whitehouse Station, N.J.). Dr. Colby has financial interests with VisionCare (Saratoga, Calif.). Contact information Aldave: aldave@jsei.ucla.edu Colby: KAColby@meei.harvard.edu