ESCRS INNOVATION

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the XXXI ESCRS Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the birthplace of world-famous ophthalmologists such as Cees Binkhorst and Jan Worst.

The ESCRS is Europe's leading organisation for cataract and refractive surgeons and our annual meeting covers the forefront of innovative developments in anterior segment surgery. ESCRS offers a unique forum for discussion and learning which ensures that international expertise is shared by ophthalmologists all over the globe. The mission of my own Maastricht University, “Leading in learning”, certainly applies to the annual ESCRS meeting. For our young colleagues, residents and fellows, who have free ESCRS membership, ESCRS is offering greatly reduced meeting registration rates. As a Dutch ophthalmologist, I am very proud to be part of a professional organisation that continuously invests in our young generation.

As always the programme consists of free papers, posters, videos, instructional and didactic courses and a practice development day. Hot topics that will be covered in the main symposia are the safety of refractive surgery in risky corneas (in a combined EuCornea-ESCRS symposium), the mixed feelings in our community around the value of femtosecond-assisted cataract surgery, a journey into the mysteries of myopia and new developments in the management of hyperopia and astigmatism during cataract surgery. Scientific symposia will address research topics such as treatment of macular edema, basic research on the crystalline lens and IOLs restoring accommodation, effects of phakic IOLs and the future of corneal stem cells. A new format of an interactive video symposium on surgical complications will take place on Sunday, organised by ESCRS in conjunction with the Netherlands IntraOcular Implant Club (NIOIC).

Education is the main mission of ESCRS and in the past few years a special focus has been the development of a comprehensive educational programme for young ophthalmologists. During the meeting, this consists of a full-day Young Ophthalmologists Programme with lectures on Saturday, the refractive surgery didactic course and the EBO-accredited instructional courses. For young ophthalmologists, ESCRS has established a Europe-wide Observership programme, the podcast series “Eye Chat” and the new e-learning platform “iLearn” which ESCRS members can access free of charge. Of course, the presence of social media like a Facebook page are a “sine qua non” for appropriate communication of the young generation.

Opening Ceremony   

A highlight of the meeting is certainly the Opening Ceremony where Douglas D Koch will present the Binkhorst Medal Lecture entitled, "The ablated cornea: what have we done?” I am also delighted to welcome delegates attending the EuCornea annual meeting, the ESCRS Glaucoma Day and the EPOS/ WSPOS paediatric sub-specialty day.

EuCornea will hold its 4th congress on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October in conjunction with the ESCRS Congress. The EuCornea programme includes 12 symposia that will cover the whole corneal field from new areas of corneal research to the latest innovations in lamellar corneal surgery.

Immediately preceding the ESCRS meeting on Friday 4 October, the ESCRS Glaucoma Day will be organised in conjunction with the European Glaucoma Society (EGS). The day will focus on the burden of glaucoma for patients and society, risk factors for disease progression and new surgical approaches for IOP reduction.

We are also looking forward to the European Paediatric Ophthalmological Society (EPOS)/World Society of Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus (WSPOS) subspecialty day which takes place on Wednesday 9 October. Among the topics to be discussed are paediatric ocular surface disease, visual rehabilitation of the aphakic child and novel therapies in glaucoma: can we use them in children?

Well organised           

As at the previous ESCRS Congresses in Amsterdam in 1995 and 2001, the venue is the RAI convention center which is a modern, convenient congress centre close to the heart of the city. This makes it easy to reach by public transportation.

The compactness of the conference centre facilitates comfortable switches from one session to the other without spending too much walking time. As always, the staff from Agenda have worked effortlessly to guarantee a well-organised meeting.

I am looking forward to welcoming you to Amsterdam and wish you a very enjoyable congress. I am convinced you will have a wonderful time full of education, science and discussion with your peers from abroad. Thank you for supporting the ESCRS and for visiting our country.