ECLSO Scientific Congress 2022
The European Contact Lens Society of Ophthalmologists (ECLSO) held their 49th scientific congress in Paris from 2-3 September 2022, a European Congress on Myopia Control.
The President, Carina Koppen, opened the meeting, which had been delayed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an update on infectious keratitis.
Vincent Borderie from Paris outlined the pitfalls and diagnosis in the treatment of infectious keratitis and presented some very challenging cases. Parwez Hossein, from Southampton, then outlined the risk factors for corneal infection, paying particular attention to the increased risk of acanthamoeba keratitis in patients who showered daily while wearing contact lenses.
Following on, Farhad Hafezi, of Zürich, Switzerland, then presented corneal crosslinking as a valid alternative treatment for infectious keratitis. He presented the different treatment protocols, including the Dresden protocol, and emphasised the importance of the role of fluency in the efficacy of this treatment.
Christophe Baudouin, from Paris, the President and founder of the European Dry Eye Society (EuDES) delivered a keynote lecture exploring the ocular surface from the basics to the more sophisticated perspective.
Andrea Leonardi from Italy then spoke on the overlap between allergic eye disease and dry eye. This was followed by José Benitez Del Castillo presenting new treatments for dry eye disease. A panel of speakers then debated the use of scleral contact lenses and also the learning curve in fitting these lenses.
Their successful use for treating the irregular cornea was outlined by Muriel Schornack. Lynette Johns, from Boston, then proposed a “starter kit for scleral lens fitting”, which was followed by an update on scleral lens research by Eef Van der Worp. The first day of the Congress finished with the award of the Fick-Kalt-Müller medal, named after three pioneer contactologists.
Carina Koppen presented the medal to René Mély of Valmont, France, a past president of the ECLSO, for services to contact lens practice. The second day of the Congress concentrated on myopia management. By the year 2050 it is estimated that half of the entire world’s population - around 5 billion people - will develop myopia.
During this session, Monica Jong looked at myopia control, considering why every dioptre counts. This was followed by an exhilarating presentation by Frank Schaeffel on myopia progression with a review of current fundamental research.
Dominique BremondGignac ended the session by looking at myopia correction with spectacles. Session 2 started with a presentation by Matthieu Leconte on Members of the ECLSO praesidium with invited speakers. the effectiveness of ortho-K contact lenses, with Keith Tempany, from the UK, speaking on the effectiveness of soft contact lenses, including specialised multifocal contact lenses for myopia management.
Monica Jong concluded the session with a talk on the principles of treatment with low-dose atropine and its effectiveness (with reference to available concentrations) which were outlined and compared.
James Wolffsohn, of Aston University, UK, delivered the keynote lecture, where he presented the White Papers of the International Myopia Institute. The next session, devoted to the eponymous Kersley lecture, was delivered by Ebru Toker, from the West Virginia Eye Institute in the United States, entitled “Stain without pain - current management of neurotrophic keratitis”.
The various modalities of treating this complex condition were outlined in detail, and it included the use of autologous and analogous serum, amniotic membrane, and the role of corneal neurotisation surgery.
Parallel sessions were also running to provide a guide to soft contact lenses for beginners, aimed at young European ophthalmologists.
The Congress concluded with the award of the best free paper to Bruno Barbosa-Ribeira from Portugal, for his paper on keratoconus and visual performance with different contact lenses, and the E-poster prize was awarded to Ayhan Saglik from Turkey, on the anterior segment parameters of the mini-scleral contact lenses in keratoconus.
The Congress dinner was held on a tour boat on the river Seine, with delegates able to witness the hourly sparkling of the illuminated Eiffel Tower.
