Sheng Lim, MD, FRCOphth, brings data from the CONCEPT study to the ASCRS meeting

At the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS) annual meeting in Los Angeles, California, the scientific programme went beyond refractive correction and cornea care. Gene and cell therapy, collaboration with retina specialists and pearls for glaucoma management were all part of the agenda as well.

Sheng Lim, MD, FRCOphth, is a professor of glaucoma studies at St. Thomas’ Hospital and King’s College London, both in the United Kingdom. At this year's meeting, he presented findings from a recent study, Comparing the Effectiveness of Phacoemulsification + Endoscopic Cyclophotocoagulation Laser and Phacoemulsification Alone for the Treatment of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma in Patients with Cataract (CONCEPT).

Prof. Lim sat down with the Ophthalmology Times Europe and Ophthalmology Times editorial teams to illustrate why endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECP) has major potential for patients with glaucoma. "We had over 160 patients in the study and randomisations 1 to 1, so it's interesting, the results we're getting so far, [after] 1 year," Prof. Lim said. "What the CONCEPT study has shown in 1 year is that we're seeing a median difference in IOP of 2 mm mercury, in support of use of ECP in primary open-angle glaucoma."

Prof. Lim also addressed a real-world postsurgical outcome which may differ from the clinical trial result: incidences of uveitis. "What we see in this study is that, during that follow up period, particularly in the first 2 months, you're seeing a higher incidence of anterior uveitis in the groups of patients who had ECP," he said. "Really, it's not surprising, because [patients who received ECP] were subjected to exactly the same post-op regime as a cataract surgery patient would have. But in real world, I think most people realise that if you combine cataract surgery with ECP, you have to increase the dosage and the length of steroid drop treatment for those groups of patients. So, I'm sure with those two adjustments, the incidence of significant anterior uveitis will be much reduced, if you do ECP with more steroid drops post operatively."