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Up Front | Nov/Dec 2013

The Changing Tides

As another year comes to a close, many of us turn to self reflection. In an effort to promote personal growth, we ask ourselves questions. What happiness did I find this year? What successes did I enjoy? What failures did I suffer? How can I better myself in the new year?

This need to evaluate ourselves is a part of the human condition—our innate desire to find the meaning of life, to be fulfilled, to reach our full potential. As healthy as the exercise of introspection is, it is perhaps equally educational. Digging deep into our own successes and failures and recounting our own joys and sorrows can provide us with the framework we need for future growth and continued success.

The theme of this month’s cover focus follows a similar thought process. In the hopes of promoting peer education, we have asked numerous cataract surgeons to reflect on their favorite surgical pearls of 2013 and comment on the strategies they used to adopt new technologies.

Cataract surgery—and ophthalmology in general—is constantly changing, and it is important for surgeons to share their insights and discoveries with their peers. One vehicle for these interactions is participation in ophthalmic conferences. In addition to the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC), and the national ophthalmologic societies in countries across Europe, another organization that promotes the sharing of new ideas is the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (ACOS). This coming year’s annual European meeting will be held in Barcelona, Spain, from June 26 to 29.

Print publications offer another way for surgeons to share information with their peers—and this is an area in which CRST Europe excels. There is no better time than the close of 2013 for surgeons to communicate their surgical wonderings with other readers than our year-end issue. This issue kicks off with Suven Bhattacharjee, MS, DO, DNB, FRF; Julián Cezón, MD; Shamala Ganesan, MBBS, FRCS(Edin), MMed(Ophth); Soosan Jacob, MS, FRCS, DNB; Björn Johansson, MD, PhD; Florian T.A. Kretz, MD, FEBO; Ruth Lapid-Gortzak, MD, PhD; Edoardo A. Ligabue, MD, and Cristina Giordano, OD; Tobias H. Neuhann, MD; Jonathan D. Solomon, MD; Khiun F. Tjia, MD; and Abhay R. Vasavada, MS, FRCS, sharing their favorite surgical pearls of 2013. These tidbits—covering topics from the front of the eye to the back, from staining the anterior capsule, performing capsulorrhexis in eyes with shallow anterior chambers, managing patients with Fuchs dystrophy, and mobilizing a nucleus from the capsule, to managing a subluxated IOL or prolapsed vitreous— offer quick strategies to simplify surgery or create a safer procedure.

Also included in this issue are thoughts on transitioning to laser-assisted cataract surgery, as experienced by Dr. Ganesan, and two overviews of early experiences with intraoperative aberrometry by Robert H. Osher, MD; and P. Dee G. Stephenson, MD, FACS, ABES, FSEE. Lastly, Simonetta Morselli, MD; and Antonio Toso, MD, share their experiences as investigators in a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical trial for a new microincision cataract surgery (MICS)-compatible IOL that was recently launched in Europe.

We hope that this final issue of 2013 provides a plethora of surgical tips and tricks to strengthen your practice and that it also inspires you to look within and find your own pearls to share. If you feel inclined to share, please e-mail me your thoughts at lstraub@bmctoday.com. While I wait for your replies, the editors and staff at CRST Europe wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!

Laura Straub, Editor-in-Chief

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