Mohammed Rifat
The medical contact lens and ocular surface association (MCLOSA) held their 30th annual meeting in the first week of December in 2024. This was a one-day event that allowed for good exposure in the fields of corneal and lens pathologies, an opportunity to network and an excellent insight into new research by viewing abstract and poster submissions related to topics of this association.
The Conference
The MCLOSA annual meeting was a one-day event held in London on the 6th of December 2024. There were three symposia during this conference; the Ocular Surface Inflammation Symposium, the Dry Eye Symposium and the Surgical Pearls Symposium. There were also talks regarding the Myopia Epidemic- which delved into the aetiology and current management options, specifically into Orthokeratology.
Before the three symposia began, there were 5 presentations given for the BRON awards.
The first presentation was given by Mr S Azizi, regarding the patients’ perspectives of using finger-prick autologous blood drops for symptomatic treatment of dry eye disease. This presentation was interesting as it is one of the few qualitative studies done in this field and the treatment showed to be well-tolerated by patients and it can show to have positive effects, both environmentally and in cost-effectiveness.
The second of these presentations was given by Ms G Siew regarding the outcomes of the use of intraocular lenses after corneal graft or scarring to treat astigmatism. The results of this study suggested that patients benefit from these intraocular lenses as the best corrected visual acuity and uncorrected distance visual acuity were improved post-operatively.
The third talk was given by Ms M Niestrata regarding the intrastromal implantation of EndoART after previous failed attempts through the standard procedure. This talk was a case presentation which showed to have positive implications for the patient as it showed no post-operative complications and improvement in visual acuity, also showing that this technique may have future uses due to advantages of using no gas, positioning or rebubbling and an option for patients who cannot tolerate the standard procedure where the EndoART is implanted onto the posterior cornea.
The fourth presentation was given by Mr K Arun, the eventual winner of the BRON Award, where he talked about the optimisation of corneal disc testing through a training/ teaching package. The conclusion of this study showed that the three-step teaching of corneal infection disc testing was effective in developing competence in all members of the multidisciplinary team.
The fifth and final talk of the BRON presentation was given by Dr B Ali Assarian regarding the potential of eye donations at a tertiary general hospital in the UK. This talk investigated how tertiary hospitals are a rich source for eye donations but there are systematic inadequacies leading to decreasing eye donation rates. Making changes within the system can offer a sustainable solution by fulfilling the wishes of donors, identifying donors and making prompt referrals.
The Three Symposia
The ocular surface inflammation symposium looked into topics such as the cicatrising cornea, surgical management of ocular surface inflammation and the melting cornea.
The dry eye symposium had updates from Haematology consultant Dr D Richardson regarding the systemic management on graft host disease. Other talks in this symposium included how laser can be used in the management of dry eye disease and an overview of the current serum eye drop service.
The surgical pearl symposium looked into optimise results for pterygium surgery, surgical tips and tricks and how to refine techniques in DESK.
How to get the most out of attending a conference as foundation doctor
As a foundation doctor attending this annual meeting, I certainly had an eye-opening experience, learning about topics that I really never had any exposure to during my time in medical school or during general medicine/ surgical rotations during the foundation programme. This conference allowed me to further research on topics that I found interesting, such as finger-prick autologous serum drops for treatment of dry eye disease and used this topic to do a literature review. I intend to submit this literature review an abstract. It can be said that I took some inspiration from the presentation given by Mr S Azizi on the qualitative study of the use of finger-prick autologous serum drops as symptomatic treatment for dry eye disease.
Attending this meeting cost me as a foundation doctor £85, which for a one-day event, I think is very reasonable. As it is a national meeting, it will also contribute to 1 point towards the Ophthalmology Specialty Training evidence folder. Attending this conference also allow for 7.5 self-accredited CPD point approved by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. I thoroughly enjoyed attending this meeting and would unreservedly recommend attending the MCLOSA conference to anyone with an interest in ophthalmology. It may also be a source of inspiration for some to delve into certain research areas when exposed to such topics when attending conferences like this and be able to get poster/ abstract submissions out of them.