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PCON to sponsor SECO retina course
“Much has been learned about the vitreous in the past 30 years,” according to Primary Care Optometry News Editorial Board member Leo P. Semes, OD. Dr. Semes will bring attendees up to speed with “Adventures in the Vitreous,” a 2-hour lecture that PCON will sponsor March 6, during the SECO 2009 meeting in Atlanta.
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He will highlight a new biological glue that assists in the apposition between the hyaloid face of the vitreous and the retina’s internal limiting membrane.
“The process of vitreous aging involves liquefaction, which produces clumping of the collagen framework of the vitreous gel,” Dr. Semes told PCON. Eventually the vitreous can no longer support itself and collapses and detaches from its mooring at the optic disc. In acute situations, this creates flashes and floaters, the “familiar” posterior vitreous detachment (PVD).
While the outcomes of PVD are benign in 95% of cases, blood or breaks can be found. “These represent the consequences of abnormal vitreoretinal adherences in the peripheral retina,” Dr. Semes said.
He will divide the consequences of abnormal vitreous attachments into those involving the posterior pole and those in the peripheral retina. He will stress the value of examining the vitreomacular interface with optical coherence tomography and provide guidelines for managing patients with conditions predisposed to retinal detachment.
“Adventures in the Vitreous” will be held March 6, 2009, 4:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., in Room A314 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. To register, go to www.seco2009.com.