Micro innovations

April 1, 2008

In technological terms, when a word is prefixed by 'micro' you come to expect that word to signify some form of technological innovation or advance. In ophthalmology, the word 'microincision' represents significant advancement, particularly in the fields of cataract and vitreoretinal surgery.

Some believe not. In this issue, we hear from several surgeons who have been so impressed by the results that they have witnessed with the new generation of lenses that they felt compelled to tell us about it. Take a look at our feature section on microincision IOLs and see what you think. Is it all hype or are we witnessing the next stage in the evolution of cataract surgery?

On another note, OTE recently launched its weekly subspecialty newsletters, covering cataract & refractive, retina and glaucoma. If you haven't subscribed to these weekly eNews alerts yet, what are you waiting for? Simply go to http://www.oteurope.com/ to sign-up. It's a great way of keeping you up-to-date with what's going on in your field. If you do already receive them, please feel free to let me know what you think of them. Is there anything else you'd like to see or (finger's crossed) are they perfect as they are? Either way, I'd love to hear from you.

Fedra PavlouEditorfpavlou@advanstar.com

Dear Editor,

I read your 'From the Editor' titled "LASIK: some still in the dark" (Ophthalmology Times Europe, Jan/Feb 2008) with great interest.

You are perfectly right - there are some specialists in clinics who do not provide enough information to their cases!

But there is another problem that you didn't mention. Thousands of cases of iatrogenic keratectasy have been reported in the United States following refractive surgery. Indeed, LASIK partly mimics the genetic characteristics of keratoconus where continuous intraocular pressure begins to deform the central cornea after a number of years or decades. In the long run, this could lead to a greater number of people requiring a perforating corneal graft, which even these days is sometimes difficult to perform because of the lack of available donor material.

This problem has been discussed in the United States during recent years, because of the increasing number of cases. I believe that this condition is deserving of discussion in Europe too because it is a problem that we must all consider.

Sincerely yours, Prof. Dr. J. DraegerUniversitäts-AugenklinikHamburg, Germany