EyeWorld Asia-Pacific June 2014 Issue

June 2014 60 EWAP PHARMACEUTICALS A clear - from page 59 DATE Meeting VENUE 2014 September 13-17 XXXII Congress of the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) www.escrs.org London UK September 17-21 19th Congress of Chinese Ophthalmological Society (COS) www.cmao.org.cn/eindex.asp China Xi’an October 18-21 Annual Meeting of American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) www.aao.org Chicago USA November 13-16 27th Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) Annual Meeting www.apacrs.org Jaipur India December 11-12 4th Biennial Scientific Meeting of the Asia Cornea Society www.acs2014.tw Taipei Taiwan 2015 January 10-11 3rd Biennial Scientific Meeting of Indonesian Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (INASCRS) www.inascrs.org/ Jakarta Indonesia February 5-8 73rd Annual Conference of All India Ophthalmology Society (AIOS) www.aios.org New Delhi India April 1-4 30th Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress (APAO) Guangzhou China April 17-21 American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery - American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators (ASCRS-ASOA) Symposium & Congress www.ascrs.org San Diego USA May 22-24 SNEC 25th Anniversary International Meeting www.snec.com.sg Singapore July 19-21 30th Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery (JSCRS) www.jscrs.org Tokyo Japan August 5-8 28th Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) Annual Meeting www.apacrs.org Kuala Lumpur Malaysia October 5-9 XXXIII Congress of European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) www.escrs.org Barcelona Spain November 14-17 Annual Meeting of American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) www.aao.org Las Vegas USA CALENDAR OF MEETINGS 2014/2015 Another oxidative preservative, known as stabilized oxychloro complex (SOC), has good antimicrobial activity and is more apt to kill fungi than some of the others, Dr. de Luise said. “It’s safer than the chemical preservatives, even when dosed more than four times a day,” he said. He cited bottled Refresh Tears (Allergan, Irvine, Calif., U.S.) as an example of an SOC-containing artificial tear. “I consider eye drops that contain oxidative preservatives several notches better than those with chemical preservatives, but they are still eye drops with preservatives,” Dr. de Luise said. Meanwhile, anything on the store shelves that has the letters “PF” is preservative free and comes in single-dose vials. Current recommendations In Dr. de Luise’s view, artificial tears with chemical preservatives are the most worrisome choices. Those with vanishing preservatives are much better, and the preferred strategy would be the use of preservative-free artificial tears. When prescribing preservative- free tears, it is important to describe for patients exactly the type of packaging for which to look, he said. “Patients tend to get confused. They will end up buying the bottle if you don’t tell them to look for the vial.” To avoid confusion, many practices give patients sheets with photographs of the preservative-free artificial tear boxes that are recommended. John D. Sheppard, MD , professor of ophthalmology, microbiology, and molecular biology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Va., U.S., likewise views preservatives in tears as detrimental for dry eye patients.