Catching Up to the Silent Thief
New drugs, technologies and awareness can bring ODs to higher levels in diagnosing and treating glaucoma. On Thursday morning, two leading experts in glaucoma treatment and surgery, James Thimons, OD, and Robert Noecker, MD, shared the stage to discuss why 2017 was one of the most exciting and innovative years in the recent history of glaucoma care.
In the “Gear Up for Glaucoma” lecture, Dr. Thimons noted that two new drugs came out in 2017, the first time new drugs have been released in 21 years. The discussion delved deep into the next generation of therapeutics, the evolving science of surgical intervention, including minimally invasive glaucoma surgeries (MIGS), and the technologies optometrists can use for earlier detection and management of glaucoma.
Read More.
All You Need to Know About Uveitis
Attendees left this course with a comprehensive understanding of the many etiologies of the condition—and how to handle them. Aaron Bronner, OD, began yesterday morning’s session, “Managing Uveitis with Flair,” with a goal of providing “not just facts, but clinically useful information on uveitis you can use today.” He spent the first few minutes dispelling the common mindset that the condition “is no big deal,” with some sobering numbers.
Uveitis is causative in 10% to 15% of total blindness cases in the developed world, he said, and although many gradually regain vision, up to 20% are left legally blind.
The first step, Dr. Mangan said, is identifying whether or not your patient has a true ocular emergency, and if it needs to be treated immediately (within a matter of hours), urgently (within a day), soon (within a week) or on an elective basis (within a month). Making that call begins with training staff to understand “the art of triage,” Dr. Mangan said. “It’s defined as sorting patients according to the urgency of their need for care.”
The presentation consisted of a number of case examples to demonstrate how ODs can manage ocular emergencies.
Read More.
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Emergency Protocols in Optometry
When patients stick their noses—or eyes—where they don’t belong, ODs must act fast. Black humor enthusiasts are well aware of the Darwin Awards—an unofficial listing of the dumbest ways people have injured themselves each year. Rich Mangan, OD, kept the crowd of his pre-lunch presentation “Be Prepared! Handling Ocular Emergencies” engaged with reminders that people often make risky choices; photos of ladders propped up on wheeled garbage cans, motorcyclists treating their moving vehicle like a La-Z-Boy and even a video of a marksman checking the barrel of his firearm only to have it nearly blow his nose off.
Dr. Mangan, who writes Review of Optometry’s Urgent Care column, even offered a collection of cases he’s witnessed that may offer an optometric analog to the Darwins, such as patients who have stored soft contact lenses in pond water, shot themselves in the eye with paintball guns and even enucleated their own eyes. Call them the “Mangan Awards” perhaps, but the speaker also offered careful guidance on how attendees can treat these patients. The first step, Dr. Mangan said, is identifying whether or not your patient has a true ocular emergency, and if it needs to be treated immediately (within a matter of hours), urgently (within a day), soon (within a week) or on an elective basis (within a month). Making that call begins with training staff to understand “the art of triage,” Dr. Mangan said. “It’s defined as sorting patients according to the urgency of their need for care.”
The presentation consisted of a number of case examples to demonstrate how ODs can manage ocular emergencies.
Read More.
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By sticking to science and practicing with confidence, ODs can deliver for their patients and grow as a profession. In the second installment of their “Eye Care Update” lecture, optometry’s dynamic duo—Randall Thomas, OD, and Ron Melton, OD—ran through selected hot topics revealed in both recent research and their very own offices.
“Our goal is to spend the year looking at the literature, filtering through it, incorporating the important concepts into our clinical practice, trying them, making sure they work, and then bringing them to you so you too can take the pearls back to your practice early next week,” said Dr. Melton in the opening of their second Wednesday course.
The discussion focused on four take-home messages: (1) be prepared and confident for anything that may walk through the office door, (2) rely less on antibiotics and referring out for non-surgical procedures, (3) pay attention to inflammation because it’s telling you something and, (4) when in doubt, use steroids.
Read More.
How imaging technology can change the way you practice. The speakers in “Understanding and Interpreting the OCT in Retina and Glaucoma” on Thursday morning made a convincing case for the importance of using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in clinical eye care practice for diagnosing, following and managing retina and glaucoma-related conditions.
Noting the first scientific description of OCT in the Journal of Science in 1991, the speakers said OCT is now widely embraced by optometrists and ophthalmologists. Its widespread use is being driven by increased demand for eye care due to an aging population, yielding a growing number of cases involving macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal vascular disease and glaucoma.
Read More.
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OD Education
What's Brewing?
Courses begin this morning at
7:00am.
Hands-on Learning Labs
• 10am-12pm, Vision Therapy Learning Lab • 1pm-3pm, Low Vision Learning Lab • 1pm-4pm, Laser Learning Lab • 3pm-5pm, Wet, Dry and Painful Eye Learning Lab
Special Sessions
8am-10am, Eye Cancers: From Melanoma to Retinoblastoma
View today's full schedule.
In the Exhibit Hall
Hours today:
10:4am-5pm
See full list of exhibitors
here.
Presentation Theaters - Free CE! Limited to 50-75 attendees per session on a first-come, first-serve basis.
11am - 12pm • The Evolution of Lenses - The Importance of Blocking Blue Light • Workshop: Sutureless Amniotic Membranes - How to Properly Insert and Remove Them
1pm - 3pm • Cracking the Code: Clinical Case Management and Medical Record Compliance PART 1
4pm - 5pm • Procuring Practice Buyers and Sellers • Practice of the Future • Winning the Online Game - Any Practice Can Be #1 Online
Social Events
Ophthalmic Professionals Party Tonight, 5pm-7pm, Omni Hotel: International Ballroom ABC, Level M2
Alumni Receptions Tonight, 6pm-11pm, Omni Hotel: Various Locations
BAD HABITS - "The Eye Docs of Rock" Party Tonight, 9pm-12am, College Football Hall of Fame: Theater
Saturday Night Party featuring KC & the Sunshine Band Tomorrow, 8:30pm-12am, Tabernacle: Main Floor |
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