EGS 2026: Glaucoma surgery, imaging and neuroscience take centre stage in Brussels

The 17th Congress of the European Glaucoma Society (EGS) takes place in Brussels from 30 May to 2 June 2026, under the theme “With a Little Help from Our Friends.” The congress brings together glaucoma specialists, trainees, allied health professionals and representatives from partnering specialties across 4 days of plenary sessions, interactive courses, hands-on surgical dry labs, national society symposia, rapid fire presentations, poster sessions and industry programming.

In her welcome message on the congress website, EGS President Ingeborg Stalmans describes the theme as reflecting “the enduring value of friendship and collaboration within the glaucoma community” and the society’s commitment to working with other ophthalmic subspecialties, neuroscientists, bioengineers, patient advocates and digital innovators. Programme planning is chaired by Ananth Viswanathan, with Prof. Luis Abegao Pinto serving as Vice-President and Gauti Johannesson as Secretary.

New features introduced for Brussels include a full Surgery Day, a dedicated Imaging Half-Day and plenary sessions developed in partnership with colleagues in neurology, engineering and health economics. Registration is open on Friday 29 May from 16:00 to 19:00 at the venue entrance.

Saturday 30 May: Surgery, imaging and the opening plenaries

The scientific programme opens on Saturday morning with Plenary I, titled “Hot off the press: EGS guidance on…”, setting the tone with the latest updates from the society. The morning also features the Keynote Lecture at 10:00. Concurrent with the plenary strand, the first of 4 trabeculectomy hands-on dry labs begins at 08:30, running through the day and offering structured surgical training under direct supervision.

Saturday afternoon opens with Plenary III on imaging – “Imaging today and tomorrow” – followed by Plenary IV, “Challenges and opportunities in glaucoma imaging,” reflecting the conference’s dedicated Imaging Half-Day strand. Hot Spot sessions running alongside the plenaries cover surgery and imaging in focused, fast-format presentations.

Saturday’s course programme covers a broad range of topics. Course 1.1 addresses uveitis and glaucoma; Course 1.2 offers practical OCT guidance for clinical management; Course 1.3 covers diagnosis and evaluation of angle closure based on the new World Glaucoma Consensus book; and Course 1.4 examines new developments in OCT and OCTA. In the afternoon, courses address slit-lamp procedures, bleb rescue and bleb-related complications, complex glaucoma cases, hypotony management, gonioscopy in the MIGS era, MIGS and MIBS complications, glaucoma laser therapies, tube shunt techniques and intra-operative gonioscopy.

National society symposia on Saturday feature contributions from Spain (artificial intelligence and glaucoma), Turkey (precision glaucoma care integrating genetics, imaging and innovative surgery), Uruguay (nightmare in the operating room), Belgium (glaucoma debates), the Alpine nations (research and clinics) and the UK and Eire Glaucoma Society. An Evidence-based Education (EbE) session titled “Seeing beyond the eye: how psychology can help both doctor and patient in consultations and adherence” also features in the Saturday programme.

The congress welcome reception takes place on Saturday evening in the exhibition area from 18:00.

Sunday 31 May: Debates, cataract surgery and poster sessions

Sunday opens with Hot Spot sessions on the iris in glaucoma and a YouR Session for trainees and early-career delegates, alongside concurrent courses. Course 5.1 covers glaucoma genetics; Course 5.2 addresses management of angle closure using the new World Glaucoma Consensus book; Course 5.3 focuses on management of myopic glaucoma including monitoring and surgical tips; Course 5.4 examines glaucoma in patients with vitreoretinal diseases; and Course 5.5 addresses critical appraisal of the literature and systematic reviews. A Global Outreach session and Rapid Fire 1 also feature in the morning.

Plenary VI, titled “With a little help from our friends in neuroscience,” reflects the congress theme directly, drawing on cross-specialty collaboration. The Jules François Lecture takes place at 10:30, followed by the first poster session and industry programming.

Sunday afternoon features the AGS-EGS joint session at Plenary VIII – “The grand debates” – a collaboration between the American Glaucoma Society and EGS. A second poster session runs in the late afternoon, followed by courses covering premium cataract surgery for glaucoma surgeons (an ESCRS-EGS symposium), phacoemulsification in glaucoma, ocular surface management in glaucoma, differential diagnosis from glaucoma and management of the glaucoma suspect and ocular hypertension. National society sessions include contributions from PAGS (transforming glaucoma care through innovation) and Korea (myopia and glaucoma). Tube shunt hands-on drylabs continue throughout the day.

Monday 1 June: Patient-reported outcomes, medications and home monitoring

Monday opens with the General Assembly at 07:45 and an Educational Partner Breakfast Symposium, alongside a YouR Session Hot Spot, a “What happened next?” case-based session and Rapid Fire 2. Courses in the morning cover secondary and advanced glaucomas, indentation gonioscopy and a joint EGS/MEAGS symposium.

Plenary IX, “Messages from the rest of the eye,” continues the cross-specialty theme, followed by Plenary X, “Fight club: debates in glaucoma care.” The afternoon brings Plenary XI, “A stroll along the PROMenade,” focused on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in glaucoma.

Monday afternoon courses address glaucoma medication today and tomorrow, home monitoring for glaucoma, surgical training scenarios for fellows, supraciliary implants and laser therapy selection. An International Society session from the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) on surgical training in glaucoma also takes place on Monday afternoon. National society contributions include Argentina (pseudoexfoliation and glaucoma) and Brazil (innovation meets practice). A fourth poster session runs in the afternoon break. MIGS and bleb-forming device hands-on drylabs continue through the day.

Tuesday 2 June: Neuroprotection, visual fields and closing ceremony

The final day opens with Hot Spot sessions on video cases and a surgery guide, alongside courses covering the holistic view of neuroprotection in glaucoma, visual field concepts (established and new), exfoliation syndrome, gonioscopy, and the interface between glaucoma and corneal disease. National society sessions from ESASO and EVER also feature in the morning.

Plenary XII, “From Brussels to Berlin: future perspectives in glaucoma,” sets the scene for the final morning, followed by Plenary XIII, “Interactive video cases: when you are going through hell, keep going?” The Closing Ceremony takes place at 12:10, with the programme concluding at 12:30.

Hands-on surgical dry labs

A defining feature of the Brussels programme is the scope of its hands-on surgical training. The EGS Hands-On courses run across all four days of the congress, covering trabeculectomy (4 sessions), tube shunts (4 sessions), MIGS (4 sessions) and bleb-forming devices without a plate (4 sessions). These drylabs run in parallel with the main scientific programme and require separate registration.

Venue and additional information

The 17th EGS Congress takes place at the SQUARE, one of the largest convention centres in Europe. Originally known as the Palace of Congress, the venue was designed by Jules Ghobert and Maurice Hoyoux and constructed in 1958 for the World’s Fair. Further information on registration, accommodation and the scientific programme is available at egscongress.org.