Are you ready for the changes ahead?

May 1, 2007

Welcome to this, the glaucoma special issue of Ophthalmology Times Europe. This month we aim to give you a taste of events from the International Glaucoma Society meeting, which was held in Athens in March. If you were not able to make it, we hope this section will allow you to feel as though you did not miss out on some of the important presentations.

Elsewhere, we are also focusing heavily on practice management this month. With the advent of new therapies, equipment and knowledge, more and more patients are thankfully now treatable across a number of ophthalmic disease areas. These innovations have, naturally, led to a greater demand for skilled professionals, equipment and general resources to cope with the rising demands imposed on today's ophthalmologist.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one disease area that is currently experiencing a great deal of change. Those specialists that treat patients with AMD are all too aware that the launch of a new class of therapeutics has signified a drastic shift in their practice patterns; it is estimated that the number of patients attending a retina specialist for AMD treatment and monitoring could increase six-fold as these new treatments are made available across Europe.

The results of the expert discussion are published within the supplement to this issue. I would like to encourage you to please contact me should you wish to make any comments or raise any queries relating to the supplement or, indeed, any articles within this issue of Ophthalmology Times Europe.

Fedra PavlouEditorfpavlou@advanstar.com