ESCRS officially opens in Munich

MUNICH, Germany — The 21st Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons officially opened here last night.

Ulf Stenevi, MD, current president of the ESCRS, greeted the attendees and expressed his enthusiasm for the event and its extensive scientific program, noting there were more poster presentations submitted than in any previous year.

He also noted that this is the first year the annual meeting has been held in Germany, but that ESCRS has enjoyed a close relationship with German ophthalmologists since its inception in the early 1980s, with the second meeting organized by the German ophthalmologist Karl Jacobi, MD. In addition, many other German surgeons have contributed to the society over the years, he said. In particular, he noted Thomas Neuhann, MD, who has served as a past president of the ESCRS, and numerous members of the ESCRS board, including Tobias Neuhann, MD; Jorg Krumeich, MD; and Thomas Kohnen, MD.

“I am delighted that we are extending our close relations with our German colleagues in a particular way during the Congress, through close collaboration with the DGII, the German Speaking Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery,” Dr. Stenevi said.

Toward the end of his speech, he welcomed Marie-Jose Tassignon, MD, who is currently secretary of the society and will be president of ESCRS next year. Following Dr. Stenevi’s speech, David Spalton, MD, announced the winners of the best poster presentations.

Tat-Keong Chan, MD, won first prize in the cataract category for his study, “Nested-polymerase chain reaction for the rapid detection of microbes implicated in infectious endophthalmitis.”

Second place was awarded to Gerd Auffarth, MD, for “Corneal surface temperature and phaco energy profiles during phacoemulsification with the AMO Sovereign with White Star Technology.”

In the refractive category, Mike Holzer, MD, won first prize for his study, “Combination of t-PTK and autologous serum eye drops for treatment of recurrent corneal erosions.”

Second place in the refractive category was awarded to Tae-Im Kim, MD, for “Mitomycin C inhibits recurrent avellino dystrophy after phototheraopeutic keratectomy.”

Per Montan, MD, was awarded the Kiewiet de Jonge Award for his paper “Prophylactic intracameral cefuroxime: Efficacy in preventing endophthalmitis after cataract surgery.” The award is presented to the author of the best European paper published in the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery during the previous year.

After the winners of best poster papers were announced, Richard Packard, MD, announced the winners of the 2003 video competition.

For the educational video category, Howard Gimbel, MD, from Canada was awarded first place for his video “Laser plume risk.” Roger Steinert, MD, was awarded second place for his video “Dr. Zernike’s vision,” and Kerry Solomon, MD, was awarded third place for “Eye movement and laser tracking systems: The myth uncovered.”

For the innovative video category, Jorg Krumeich, MD, from Germany won first place for the video “Corneal ring in perforating keratoplasty.” Kimiya Shimizu, MD won second place for “Preloaded injector,” and Takayuki Akahoshi, MD, won third place for “Ultra-low energy phaco.”

In a new category introduced this year, called new contributors, Khiun Tjia, MD, was awarded first place for “Aqualase: The quest for ultimate safety in lens refractive surgery.”

Tushar Agarwal, MD, was awarded second place for “Rotational autokeratoplasty and rotational keratoplasty,” and Li Lim, MD, was awarded third place for “Combined lamellar and penetrating keratoplasty in the treatment of interstitial keratitis with peripheral corneal thinning.”

Iqbal Ahmed, MD, from Canada won first place in the scientific category for his video, “Capsular tension segment: Next step in effective management of profound zonular dialysis.”

Hiroko Bissen-Miyajima, MD, was awarded second place for Real-time observation of IOP changes during keratome suctioning in LASIK,” and Nick Mamalis, MD, won third place for “Ultimate small incision intraocular lenses.”

For the final category, special cases, first place was awarded to Mana Tehrani, MD, from Germany for “Customized IOLs in an odd eye: The two toric IOLs concept.”

Roberto Belluci, MD, won second place for “A new flip for combined glaucoma and cataract procedures.” Mittanamalli Sridhar, MD, won third place for "Ipsilateral rotatory autokeratoplasty: Alternative procedure to penetrating keratoplasty in nonprogressive central corneal ulcers.”

Thierry Clidiere, vice president of Alcon for Europe, Middle-East and Africa, presented the award for the best video overall to Graham Barrett, MD, of Australia, for his video called simply “Intelligent tubing.” Dr. Barrett is also the recipient of the Ridley Medal Lecture, to be presented on Monday, Sept. 8.