ESCRS 2023: The three things that make this meeting a priority for Dr Sheng Lim

The annual European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) meeting is considered one of the most important events in ophthalmology. Our team spoke with Sheng Lim, MD, about glaucoma data he presented at the congress, what’s ahead in minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) and why he makes the ESCRS meeting a priority each year.

Editor’s note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Sheng Lim: My name is Sheng Lim, Professor of Glaucoma Studies at St. Thomas Hospital in King's College, London.

ESCRS is an important meeting for me. I'm always involved in the running of surgical courses, always present some data from my lab, always 1 or 2 papers, here, and presentations. It's also a very important meeting for the industry as well, because all the industries are here. So [it’s] become an important meeting for my calendar every year. So, 3 things: running courses, scientific presentations and meeting [the] industry.

[At ESCRS,] I'm going to have some new data that hasn't been published yet. I think it'll be quite interesting for people who are interested in MIGS devices. You'll be surprised to see some of these newer devices, how they work and how well they work. In a lot of them, these are the first studies that have been done in those devices.

I'm the chief investigator of a first randomised control trial on the [endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation] ECP laser in glaucoma. The data will be out, hopefully, in 2024. For me personally, that is the most exciting thing in my calendar. But, beyond that, there are 2 or 3 new glaucoma devices and surgical techniques that have only just been introduced, and I haven't tried those yet. So I'm looking forward to laying my hands on those, trying it out, and see how well it works. So [it's] quite exciting, here. I look forward to it.