International, Australian and New Zealand experts in eye health provided a comprehensive educational program for ophthalmologists at Alcon’s Synergeyes conference in Sydney in late June.
The annual conference, which was planned in collaboration with a panel of leading Australian ophthalmologists, attracted 175 delegates from Australia and New Zealand. Registrars at Synergeyes, which was staged in conjunction with the main event, attracted 30 registrars.
Among leading international speakers presenting at Synergeyes was Dr. Abhay Vasavada from India, one of the most published practicing ophthalmologists in the world. His presentations included his data on five years of follow up on posterior capsular opacification (PCO) rates and his clinical experience with the Centurion Vision System, demonstrating how he customises the IOP, aspiration and vacuum levels based on each case. Dr. Vasavada also presented several complicated case studies along with the Australian faculty.
Dr. John Davidson, who operates a facility in California at the forefront of technology, presented on LenSx femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery as well as his clinical outcomes from over 2,000 cases performed using ORA intraoperative wavefront aberrometry. Dr. Davidson was able to demonstrate 92 per cent of his post-myopic LASIK patients falling within +/-0.50 of refractive target compared to the global data of only 67 per cent. ORA, Alcon’s latest technology innovation, is still new to the Australian market with three facilities currently accessing this technology locally. Dr. Peter Stewart, Australia’s most experienced ORA surgeon also presented his clinical data, demonstrating approximately 95 per cent of his toric patients falling within +/-0.50 of his target cylinder correction.
Other keynote speakers at Synergeyes included Dr. Graeme Barrett, whose IOL calculator is rapidly increasing in global popularity due to its accuracy in predicting refractive outcomes. Dr. Barrett’s IOL calculator is soon to be incorporated into the Alcon toric online calculator. Dr. David Manning, Dr. Chandra Balachandran and Dr. Michael Lawless from NSW and Dr. Rick Wolfe from Victoria also made up
the local Australian faculty.
Speaking of the conference, Colette Parkinson, Alcon’s Product Manager, IOLs & Diagnostics Equipment, said “Synergeyes is an example of the company’s dedication to partner with the ophthalmology community and invest in supporting ongoing professional development in order to improve patient outcomes”. As well as hosting Synergeyes, she said, “In 2016 Alcon has educated Registrars with Registrars at Synergeyes, ophthalmic nurses with Onward and will educate orthoptists at a biometry and cataract outcomes masterclass in Victoria later this year.”
A date and venue for Synergeyes 2017 is yet to be announced.