ET Today_Monday14
Significant investments in education and support for trainee doctors, joint meetings with sister ophthalmology societies, and the successful launch of the online European Registry of Quality Outcomes for cataract and Refractive Surgery (EUREQUO) are all elements of EScRS’ continuing commitment to meet the changing needs of both surgeons and patients, EScRS president Paul Rosen fRcS, fRcOphth, told delegates at last night’s Opening ceremony. “the EScRS believes firmly that a continuing audit of surgical outcomes is necessary to ensure the best care of our patients,” Dr Rosen said of the EUREQUO registry in his welcoming address to the XXVii congress of the EScRS. Because of its important role in improving patient wellbeing it has attracted substantial matching funds from the European Union as well as partnerships with 12 European countries to develop national visual outcomes registries for cataract and refractive surgery, he noted. “the data collection will involve individual practitioners, small clinics, large hospitals and university institutions. By making comprehensive data available for comparison of visual outcomes, EUREQUO aims to build up a network to facilitate the exchange of best practices,” Dr Rosen added. Software for the program has been finalised and is being tested in pilot countries with a roll-out for all participants scheduled for next year. He encouraged all delegates to learn more about the registry at course scheduled today, or at the EUREQUO booth at the exhibit hall entrance. to address the requirements of a changing and expanding membership base, and establish clear policies on issues such as education and engagement with emerging and developing markets, the EScRS Board last year led a review of the society’s structure and strategy, Dr Rosen noted. “as a result of this exercise, the new committees have this year begun working with new aims and goals which will, i hope, enable the EScRS to continue to grow and to successfully meet the needs and expectations of it members. this includes significant investment in education, including e-learning opportunities, and support for trainee doctors, especially from emerging European markets.” among these educational efforts are collaborations with other ophthalmology organisations, including the first World congress of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus that took place in conjunction with this year’s EScRS congress and attracted nearly 1,000 participants. “a large number of EScRS delegates have taken the opportunity to attend sessions at the paediatric meeting and holding the two meetings together has proven mutually beneficial.” a second paediatric congress will be held alongside the 2012 EScRS congress in Milan, Dr Rosen said. in addition, the 2010 EScRS congress in Paris will feature joint symposia with the European Society of Retina Specialists (EUREtina), which will be holding its meeting in partnership with the EScRS. “there has always been a great deal of crossover between cataract and retina surgeons. Linking these meetings in 2010 gives both societies the opportunity to explore these synergies,” Dr Rosen said. the Opening ceremony also featured the presentation of the ORBiS award recognising outstanding contributions to preventing blindness in the developing world. this year’s award went to noopur gupta from india for the free Paper entitled, “Socio-demographic features and risk factor profile of keratomalacia in early infancy”. XXVII Congress of the ESCRS 2009 Monday 14 September President addresses Opening Ceremony President opens ESCRS Congress in Barcelona INSIDE: ESCRS VIDEO COMPETITION WINNERS
Only the proprietary§ OZil® Torsional handpiece delivers controlled side-to-side ultrasonic shearing. With virtually no repulsion, INFINITI® Vision System with OZil® delivers a level of followability that will dramatically alter the way you perform phaco. Forever. www.infinitivision.com $OFRQ,QF,1)(8 Welcome to the world of true custom *OZil® Torsional handpiece. § Patents pending. is a registered trademark of Alcon, Inc. EuroTimes ET T oday OZil®*HAS TURNED THE TIDE IN PHACO, CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE. FOREVER. ,1)(8(77RGD\LQGG 30
Surgical simulator demonstration wins ESCRS Video Competition tHE overall winning entry of this year’s EScRS Video competition was a presentation by Jansuke akura MD Japan, titled “KitaRO, Handy Surgical Simulator for Dry Lab and Wet Lab”. Dr akura’s video described the KitaRO system and illustrated its potential as a tool for teaching phacoemulsification surgery. the design of the surgical simulator allows students to practise instrument manipulation at the desk prior to wet lab instruction. it also provides a useful alternative to porcine eyes for practising phacoemulsification in the wet lab. Dr akura’s video included demonstrations of the realistic simulation the KitaRO system could provide of capsulorhexis, nuclear dividing technique, wound construction and iOL insertion. the surgical simulator’s innovations include a new oculomotor device and an artificial eyeball wall, consisting of disposable glass fibre sheets and polyvinyl chloride foam. it also has anterior capsules composed of polyester film 4.0 microns in thickness with special separate printings for dry lab and wet lab use. in addition, nuclei for dry lab use are composed of special polymer clay while the lens for the wet lab consists of nucleus made of agar with calcium and colcothar, cortex made of starch paste. “Quality surgical simulation very similar to the human eye is possible, because KitaRO is equipped with quality artificial anterior capsule, nucleus, cortex, and sclera/cornea,” Dr akura said. Educational the 1st prize in the educational category went to Joaquin Barraquer Moner MD, Spain, for “Surgical technique for combined surgery of cataract and non-perforating deep sclerectomy. the most frequent perioperative complications”. combining video images of startling clarity with a detailed and explicit narration, the presentation provided demonstrations of scleral flap creation and excision and placement of a scleral implant together with an outline of the subsequent phacoemulsification and lens implantation procedure. the video concluded with examples of common complications. Ronald Yeoh MD, Singapore, received 2nd prize in the educational category for his presentation titled “Phaco Bloopers” and 3rd prize went to takeshi Sigura MD, Japan, for “the Basic method of ciliary sulcus fixation of intraocular lenses and pars-plana fixation of intraocular lenses”. Innovative category in the innovative category, Hong-Kyun Kim MD, Korea received 1st prize for “the Rescue from the axis of Evil: Digital axis Marker for toric intraocular Lens (iOL)”. the video illustrated a new axis marking technique designed to reduce the unexpected postoperative residual refractive errors to which conventional axis marking technique are prone. it incorporates digital imaging software and real-time tracking to align the iOL’s axis with the preoperatively determined cylinder axis of the eye. the video also showed the results of a study comparing the new digital axis marking technique with a standard axis marking, which demonstrated that the newer approach may be significantly more accurate and repeatable. Second prize in the innovative category went to toru Urano MD, Japan, for “the use of newly developed lid speculum with a drape in various intraocular surgeries”, and 3rd prize went to Myoung Joon- Kim US for “a new device for storage and injection of endothelial keratoplasty grafts”. Scientific category first prize in the Scientific category went to takahiro Shimowake MD, Japan, for “capturing the flow in PEa”, which documented three sets of experiments using a wide variety of materials to simulate antechamber flow during phacoemulsification. the results demonstrated that the courses of antechamber currents are not always as predicted and that there are dramatic differences between tips according to power mode and action. Mike P Holzer MD, germany, received 2nd prize in the Scientific category for “Keep it intrastromal: the intRacOR procedure to correct presbyopia” and 3rd prize went to tsutomoto Hara MD Japan for “Epithelial photorefractive keratectomy (E-PRK): Refractive correction by removing only the surface corneal epithelial layer”. Special Cases category in the Special cases category fernando trinidade MD, Brazil received 1st prize for “i want my cataract back”. it described the case of a woman with a cataract and also a large pupil from glaucoma surgery years earlier. Removal of the cataract and placement of a large diameter aspheric iOL failed to compensate for large pupil. as a result, from the first postoperative day the patient had significant difficulties with glare, starbursts and other photic phenomena. Dr trinidade waited to see if a fibrotic change of the anterior capsule would block enough light to serve as a pseudo-pupil, but it did not. Eventually a pupilloplasty resolved the situation. 2nd prize in the Special cases category went to Juan alvarez de toledo MD, Spain, for temporary anchorage of capsular bag in a traumatic cataract with zonular dehiscence. the 3rd prize went to Virgilio centurion MD, Brazil, for “Be kind, be soft... don’t be rough”. Dae Jin Park MD, won the first prize in the Young Ophthalmologist category for “non-surgical amniotic patch using silicone ring”. 3 aDDing activities such as research and premium services, including presbyopia-correcting intraocular lenses, can make your practice more professionally satisfying and financially rewarding. However, the physical, marketing and staffing resources required for such endeavours can be quite different from those involved in standard cataract surgery and ophthalmic practice. Success often demands rethinking, reorganising and even recapitalising your practice to some extent. Monday’s Eurotimes Practice Development Workshops will present three one-hour modules designed to help you understand and plan for expanding your practice opportunities. Ophthalmologists who have successfully expanded their practice activities will share their insights and experiences. Adding premium IOLs While laser refractive procedure volumes are down drastically due to the economic downturn, demand for premium intraocular lenses, such as presbyopia-correcting and toric varieties, has been more stable. this may be because premium iOLs are most often implanted in patients who need cataract surgery. convincing them to spend the extra money for better-performing premium lenses, when appropriate, may be easier than enticing patients for laser surgery that they can put off indefinitely without significant loss of function. nonetheless, patients who pay extra out-of-pocket generally demand better service – and better visual outcomes. to make your name as a refractive cataract surgeon, you’ll likely have to make operational changes to provide convenience and manage patient outcome expectations – and do some marketing to establish the value of premium lenses in patients’ minds. You may also need to upgrade equipment, diagnostic procedures and patient management skills to sharpen clinical outcomes with lenses that may provide fewer margins for error. in the workshop, Opportunities for Developing a Premium iOL Service in your Practice, Erik Mertens MD will share his experience introducing and successfully growing a premium iOL practice at Medipolis, a multidisciplinary practice based in antwerp, Belgium, where he serves as medical director. the session will cover essentials including developing a business model for a premium iOL service, patient education, selecting patients and managing expectations and staff training. internationally renowned marketing expert, Shareef Mahdavi, president of SM2 Strategic, will be on hand with tips on how to differentiate your practice from competitors by creating a truly premium patient experience, with examples drawn from successful ophthalmic practices and other industries. Sheraz Daya MD, medical director of the centre for Sight, corneo Plastic Unit & Eyebank, Queen Victoria Hospital, London, UK, will moderate the session, which is sponsored by Bausch & Lomb, manufacturer of the crystalens HD accommodating iOL. My life, my Practice Dr Daya will also moderate My Life, my Practice, a session featuring two of the most successful high-volume, multi-site ophthalmic surgery practices in Europe. Jorge L alio MD, professor and chairman of ophthalmology at Miguel Hernandez University, alicante, Spain, will present on the ViSSUM project, of which he is founder and medical director. Launched in 1992 following a project of the instituto Oftalmologico de alicante, ViSSUM is a corporate organisation that incorporates not only medical services in all ophthalmic subspecialties, but also medical research, university teaching activities and humanitarian services at locations across Spain. Eckhard Weingäertner MD, medical director of EuroEyes, Stuttgart, germany, will offer tips on analysing your practice situation and opportunities in difficult economic times. Dr Weingäertner will discuss his own experience opening and working in the Stuttgart EuroEyes clinic, how to develop such a centre, and marketing tools that enable his practice to keep up quality. Using informed consent to satisfy patients While medical ethics requires physicians to discuss the risks and benefits of any procedure with patients as appropriate, informed consent takes on additional importance in an environment where patients have many treatment options. in his presentation, nobody is Perfect, Barrister Paul Mcginn, Dublin, ireland, will discuss how ophthalmic surgeons can use the consent process to enhance patient satisfaction, and satisfy ethical and legal requirements in their own countries. EuroTimes Practice Development Workshops: How to add premium services to your practice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od Solar of LiveseySolar Practice Builders addresses the Practice Development Workshop yesterday EUREQUO Session Monday 14 September, 2009 Time: 14.30 - 16.00 Room 113 Chairperson: P. Barry, Ireland Do not miss this opportunity to become part of the future. If auditing results and registering performance is not mandatory in your practice and your country it soon will be! www.eurequo.org European Registry of Quality Outcomes for Cataract & Refractive SurgeryEUREQUO
Title Subtitle 55 President’s Dinner
Top refractive poster: no difference in reinnervation between femto and microkeratome LASIK flaps tHiS year’s first prize for posters in the refractive category went to Sanjay Patel MD and colleagues from the Mayo clinic, Rochester Minnesota, US, for “Sub-basal nerve Density and corneal Sensitivity after LaSiK: Bladeless versus Microkeratome.” this three-year randomised, prospective, paired eye study of 21 subjects found that the planar flap configuration created by a femtoseond laser was not associated with faster reinnervation compared with flaps cut by microkeratomes. flap creation method also did not affect corneal mechanical sensitivity. all test subjects were treated with a femtosecond laser aiming for a 120 micron flap in one eye with a mean refractive error of 3.7 +/- 1.6 dioptres, and a microkeratome with a 180 micron flap in the fellow eyes with a mean error of -3.8 +/- 1.7 dioptres, achieving a measured mean thickness of about 140 microns in both groups. Sub-basal nerve density measured by confocal microscopy dropped sharply after surgery, and remained depressed at three years compared with preoperative levels and 40 control subjects. corneal mechanical sensitivity as measured by gas esthesiometry decreased at one month but returned to pre-op levels at three months, demonstrating that the prolonged decrease in sub-basal nerve density was not associated with a prolonged decrease in corneal mechanical sensitivity, the poster concludes. Second prize in the refractive category went to george Kymionis MD, greece, for “Simultaneous topoguided PRK followed by collagen cross-Linking for the treatment of Keratoconus.” caroline Buestel MD, france, took third prize for “Optical coherence tomography analysis of the femtosecond Laser versus Mechanical techniques for intracorneal Ring Segment implantation Deepness Predictability.” BSS-Plus protects against ultrasound damage at low power and time first place in the cataract poster category went to Yutaro nishi MD and colleagues at the Wilmer Eye institute, Baltimore, US, and the albert Einstein college of Medicine, new York, US for “Evaluation of Phaco- emulsification-induced Oxidative Stress and Damage of cultured Human corneal Endothelial cells Using Redox fluorometry Microscopy.” the study used redox fluorometry, a non-invasive method of monitoring metabolic change based on the autofluorescence of intracellular structures, to measure changes in redox ratios in response to oxidative stress. the purpose of the study was both to investigate the efficacy of redox fluoroscopy in evaluating cultured human corneal cells, and to evaluate the protective effects against ultrasonic energy damage of BSS-Plus, which is BSS enriched with bicarbonate, dextrose and glutamate, compared with standard BSS. cells exposed to increasing ultrasound energy and time showed dose-related decreased in redox ratios, which change in response to oxidative stress. at low ultrasound power levels and times, BSS-Plus showed significantly better protection against ultrasound energy effects than standard BSS, but the difference became statistically insignificant at higher ultrasound energies and longer exposure time. Second place in the cataract category went to Konrad Pesudovs MD, australia, for “Predicting Visual Performance from Wavefront Quality Metrics in cataracts.” third place went to farhana Safa MD, UK, for “Risk Stratification in cataract Surgery: an Evidence-Based tool to guide appropriate case Selection for trainee Surgeons.” there were more than 650 papers submitted, said Risto Uusitalo MD, chairman of the EScRS poster judges. “the quality was very high and it was tough to make a decision.” 6 Risto Uusitalo, chairman of the ESCRS poster judges EuropEan SociEty of cataract & rEfractivE SurgEonS
Title Subtitle 7 paris2010 XXVIII Congress of the ESCRS 4–8 September 2010 Le Palais des Congrès www.escrs.org EuropEan SociEty of cataract & rEfractivE SurgEonS
8 Vox Doc ET Today asks doctors what has drawn them to attend the XXVII ESCRS Congress in Barcelona. The first World Congress of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (WCPOS) is also taking place during the ESCRS Congress. “i think the EScRS congress is one of the best meetings globally. the EScRS is growing from strength to strength every year and it is getting bigger with top faculty from all over the world in attendance to discuss the latest technology.” “i am speaking at the meeting and i am also attending a number of sessions. the meeting is growing every year and getting better. the arguments and discussions are always well presented.” “ i have been attending the EScRS congress since 1992. i love it because it is very well organised and i get the opportunity to hear about recent surgical adventures in ophthalmology. as a corneal surgeon, i am also interested in new courses in corneal surgery.” Amar Agarwal - INDIAGiorgio Lofoco - ITALYSura Sabelaish - JORDAN 7KHZRUOGpVîUVWQRQP\GULDWLFIXQGXVFDPHUD ZLWK$XWR)OXRUHVFHQFHIRU$0'VFUHHQLQJ $IWHU\HDUVRILPDJLQJH[SHUWLVH&DQRQ SUHVHQWVDQHZUHYROXWLRQLQUHWLQDOLPDJLQJ :LWKWKH&;+\EULG'LJLWDO5HWLQDO&DPHUD \RXFDQHYHQWDNH)$) )XQGXV$XWR )OXRUHVFHQFH LPDJHVLQQRQP\GPRGH )RUPRUHLQIRYLVLW ZZZFDQRQHXURSHFRPPHGLFDO B(\HBFDUHB&;BDGBYB[ PPLQGG 30
Title Subtitle 9
Born to be wild More revolutionary zeal is on show at caixaforum in the work of Maurice de Vlaminck. as one of the most avant-garde artists of his time, his bold, chaotic paintings were called “fauve” or “wild” and shocked traditionalists. “What i could only have done in society by throwing a bomb ...i have tried to do in painting, using pure colours,” he said. More than 80 of his most radical pieces are on display, together with some of the african sculpture which inspired him. at the same gallery, figurative work selected from the La caixa foundation collection shows how in the 1980s artists such as Julian Schnabel, anselm Kiefer and georg Baselitz reacted against abstract and conceptual art. Maurice de Vlaminck, A Fauve Instinct. Paintings from 1900 to 1915; CaixaForum, 6-8 Av. Marquès de Comillas, 6-8, www.fundacio.lacaixa.es, daily, 10am-8pm, Saturdays to 10pm. Images after dark You know the feeling – so much to do and see, so little time. it may help to know that on thursdays and fridays in the summer the contemporary art Museum of Barcelona (MacBa) stays open until midnight. guided tours, at 8.30pm and 10pm, are included in the price of the ticket and the terrace bar (dinner reservations 00 34 672 207 389) stays open, too. You won’t find any masterpieces by Picasso or Pollock, but you will have your eyes opened to all kinds of cutting-edge work made since about 1950. there is also a typically challenging temporary exhibition, On the Margins of art, which looks at ways artists such as Joseph Beuys responded to May 1968 and other political upheavals. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Pl del Àngels, www.macba.cat, Thursday 17, and Friday18 September 11am to midnight; also Monday and Wednesday 11am to 8pm; Saturday 10am to 8pm; Sunday 10am to 3pm. tickets E3.50. Rainy day plans if the sun is beating down too harshly, retreat into cosmocaixa, a science museum with a very hands- on ethos, named the best science museum in Europe in 2006. the exhibitions include a planetarium and the Drowned forest, a tropical jungle recreated in the museum with 80 species of plants and 52 kinds of animals. Special summer activities include “touch touch”, where visitors can meet the forest animals. Exhibitions running in September include tecnologica comprada, displaying a treasure trove of pre-colombian science; números de buena familia, an investigation of numbers; and Hablemos de Drogas, examining the impact of drugs on everyday life. CosmoCaixa Barcelona, 26 C Isaac Newton, Barcelona, www.fundacio. lacaixa.es, daily, 10am-8pm, closed Monday 14 September, E3. Sown and grown With its curvy gaudí buildings, seashore and sinuous Ramblas, Barcelona is the antithesis of a hard-edged city, but it is lively, so it’s good to find a calm spot in the Botanical gardens. featuring some 1,350 species from Mediterranean climates around the world such as california, chile, South africa and australia, it changes all the time, adding new species from its nurseries with the aim of reaching a collection of 4,000 species in all. for the summer season (until 20 September), a special itinerary shows how plants cope with high temperatures, how they avoid being eaten and how they react to forest fires. Jardí Botànic, 2 Dr Font i Quer (Parc de Montjuïc), www.jardibotanic.bcn. cat, daily 10am-9pm, E3.50, free after 3pm on Sunday. The jazz age film came first, and rock came after, but jazz has a claim to be the art form of the 20th century. Showing at Barcelona’s centre of contemporary culture (cccB), the exhibition the Jazz century tells its story from the very beginnings. free thursday jam sessions from 9.30pm to midnight include gràcia Jam Sessions (17 September), featuring guitarist andreu Zaragoza and the music of the small clubs and bars of the gràcia district of the city. Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, 5 C Montalegre, www.cccb.org, open daily (Jazz exhibition closed Mondays), Tuesday-Sunday 11am-8pm, Thursdays to 10pm, E4.50. Theatre reborn at the Palau Robert, the information centre for the region of catalunya, you can see a free exhibition to mark the 10th anniversary of the re-opening of the Liceu opera house building, which burned down in 1994. founded on La Rambla in 1847, the gran teatre del Liceu is one of the symbols of the city and the whole history of the city’s opera is on display here. Liceu Opera Barcelona, Palau Robert, 107 Pg de Gràcia, www.gencat.cat/probert. Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 10am-2.30pm. Art operations La capella de l’antic Hospital de la Santa creu is a corner of changing contemporary art shows in one of Europe’s earliest medical buildings. founded in 1024, by the 15th century it had become the city’s central hospital – which it remained until the 1920s. gaudí, one of its last patients, died here and Picasso painted his important Dead Woman (1903) here. now the gothic and Baroque buildings house a variety of cultural and educational institutions, such as the Royal academy of Medicine, which occasionally hosts concerts. the courtyard is a pleasant place to sit, or you can visit the neo-classical lecture theatre with its revolving marble dissection table (Monday to friday 10am-2pm), see the Baroque ceramics in the entrance of the casa de convalescència or take in the art in La capella, once the hospital’s chapel. La Capella de l’Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu, C del Carme, www.bcn.es, daily, courtyard 10am to dusk, La Capella (entrance on C de l’Hospital) Tuesday- Saturday 12 noon to 2pm, 4pm-8pm, Sunday 11am-2pm, free. Out and about in Barcelona 10 The bank of the river, 1909-1910, Maurice de Vlaminck. CCCB Jazz Exhibition. Thomas Hart Benton - Portrait of a Musician CCCB Jazz Exhibition Jazz Magazine No 1 August 1935 VEGAP © 2009
Host city of Budapest hopes to attract more delegates to 14th ESCRS Winter Meeting 11 tHE 14th EScRS Winter Meeting will be held in Budapest, Hungary from 12-14 february, 2010 in the corinthia Hotel. this promises to be an historic occasion, not only for the EScRS but also for the Hungarian ophthalmological community, as Zsolt Biro MD, president of the Hungarian Society of cataract and Refractive Surgeons (SHiOL) explains. “this is the first EScRS meeting to be held in Hungary,” said Prof Biro. “Budapest is in the very centre of Europe and it is easy to travel here either by car, plane or train. in my opinion, Budapest is also much cheaper than other European cities which should encourage more young ophthalmologists to attend the meeting and also more delegates from eastern European countries. “Budapest can be a bridge between ophthalmologists from eastern and western Europe and i think anyone who attends the winter meeting will have a very good experience.” as Prof Biro explains, the idea of Budapest as a bridge between east and west goes back to the early origins of this historic city. “Budapest was originally two different cities, Pest, which is the flat area, and Buda, which is the mountain area, before the two cities joined together and became Budapest, connected by several bridges over the River Danube,” he said. the Hungarian Ophthalmological Society, which has 800 active members, was founded in 1904 and is one of the oldest ophthalmological societies in Europe. the society, whose president is andras Berta MD, head of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Debrecen, has its own journal, Ophthalmology, which has published 146 volumes. the SHiOL was founded 20 years ago, in December 1988. its founding president was Daniel Vorosmarthy the inventor of the oculopressor. the society has an annual congress every year and over the last 10 years these congresses have included live surgery. the live surgery for the 14th EScRS Winter Meeting will come from the Department of Ophthalmology at the Semmelweis Medical University in Budapest. “the Semmelweis Medical University was Hungary’s first eye clinic and opened its doors in 1904,” said Prof Biro. “the operating theatre was refurbished this year so there will be a brand new theatre in place for the live surgery session at the EScRS Winter Meeting,” he said. as is the case with every city that hosts a major EScRS congress, the hosts of the 14th winter meeting in Budapest believe that the 2010 meeting will build on the success of previous meetings and set the standard for future meetings. “i have participated in all of the winter meetings in the last four years and i hope that we can attract more delegates, especially younger ophthalmologists and ophthalmologists from eastern European countries. Recent winter meetings have focused on refractive surgery mainly but in Budapest cataract and refractive will be 50/50. there will be live surgery and instructional courses and my colleagues and i hope to show to our friends around Europe the progress that we have made in Hungarian ophthalmology,” Prof Biro concluded. • For the latest information on the 14th ESCRS Winter Meeting visit www.escrs.org and www.eurotimes.org. 11 Zsolt Biro ET Today Special Edition XXVII Congress of the ESCRS 2009 Publisher: carol fitzpatrick Executive Editor: colin Kerr Editors: Sean Henahan, Paul Mcginn Managing Editor: caroline Brick Production Editor: angela Sweetman Senior Designer: Paddy Dunne assistant Designer: Janice Robb contributing Editors: Howard Larkin, Dermot Mcgrath, Roibeard O hEineachain
0(*B(7B7RGD\B B2%&$LQGG $0