50th Anniversary Meeting of The Retina Society

On October 7, 2017, The Retina Society had their 50th anniversary meeting. During this event, hundreds of the most prominent retina specialists in the U.S. joined together to discuss the latest in vitreoretinal disease management. This organization was started back in 1966 in Boston by Dr. Charles L. Schepens, who is credited with establishing retina surgery as a “sub-specialty”.

Dr. Kokame was accepted to speak at this year’s meeting. His lecture, entitled “Prevalence of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy (PCV) in Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Eyes with and without Anti-VEGF Resistance and Diagnostic Imaging of PCV with En-face Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and OCT Angiography”, showcased two important points. First, there was a higher prevalence of PCV in eyes with exudative AMD that were anti-VEGF resistant. Anti-VEGF resistance was defined by persistent subretinal fluid, macular edema, or subretinal hemorrhage after 4  or more anti-VEGF treatments. Second, the newest imaging modalities, En Face OCT and OCT angiography, exhibited  low sensitivity and high specificity for the diagnosis of PCV in terms of detecting polyps with or without a branching vascular network.

This study showed that indocyanine green angiography is still  viewed as the gold standard, but OCT Angiography can be helpful in confirming PCV and potentially monitoring the disease progression, as it is non-invasive.

This inquisitiveness in retinal research is what allows RCH to be on the forefront of disease management and bring back world class care for the patients of Hawaii.

 

Attendees of the 50th Annual Retina Society Meeting, Boston, MA