On September 14-17, 2016, Dr. Kokame and Dr. Lai attended the Retina Society’s 49th annual meeting. The Retina Society is an organization comprised of well-established doctors who are dedicated to the study of the retina and its diseases. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious retina organizations in the country. Members of this society are selected by invitation to join this organization based on their training and academic contributions to the field of retina. During this annual meeting, many doctors presented on new studies, findings, and surgical techniques that could potentially improve patient care.
Dr. Kokame gave two presentations during this year’s Retina Society’s annual meeting. His first presentation titled “Bilateral Vision Loss Associated with Progressive Outer Retinal Abnormality”, was presented in the category, “Interesting Retinal Cases.” The presentation was well received and sparked discussions amongst some of the most knowledgeable specialists in the field. The second presentation, “En-face spectral domain optical coherence tomography in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy”, was a podium presentation that discussed how the non-invasive imaging technique compares to the traditional imaging with ICG for the diagnosis of PCV.
Dr. Lai ‘s presentation was entitled “High-Dose Ranibizumab Treatment in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy; PEARL 2 Trial (Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy with IntravirEAl Ranibizumab (Lucentis). This was a 2-year clinical trial conducted by the Retina Consultants of Hawaii that examined the effect of high dose Ranibizumab for the treatment of polypoidal vasculopathy (PCV), a subtype of wet macular degeneration that is more commonly found in Asians and is quite prevalent in Hawaii.
Overall, the Retina Society allows doctors to integrate and spread new knowledge in the field of ophthalmology. The doctors of RCH will continue to not only contribute to retinal research, but also bring back new knowledge that will improve patient care in Hawaii.