Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Ingrid Kreissig,
Cornell University, USA
Keynote: The treatment of primary retinal detachment: A review of the past 85 years
Time : 09:45-10:00
Biography:
Ingrid Kreissig is currently a Professor at Department of Ophthalmology Univ. Mannheim-Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany. She is also serving as Adjunct Professor at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York. Her specialization includes, Posterior Segment of the Eye: St. Gall/Switzerland, Bonn/Germany, and New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center/USA. During 1979-2000, she has been the Chairman of Univ. Tuebingen/Germany. She has published more than 404 papers, those are been published in national and international journals of ophthalmology, basically on topics such as surgery of retinal detachment with long-term follow-up of anatomic and functional results, cryopexy histology, tumors, AMD, diabetic retinopathy, and intravitreal pharmacotherapy. She has also published many books.
Abstract:
The evolution of present surgical techniques for reattaching a primary retinal detachment will be analysed from 1929 up to present and this in respect to their morbidity, rate of reoperation and long-term visual function.
Publications about retinal detachment surgery is reviewed during the past 85 years. There had been a change from a surgery of the entire retinal detachment to a surgery limited to the area of the break and a change from extraocular to intraocular surgery.
The 4 major surgical techniques for repair of a primary retinal detachment that are applied in the beginning of the 21st century, have still one nominator in common: To find and close the retinal break which caused the detachment and which would cause a redetachment, if not sealed off sufficiently.
Conclusion: To find and close sufficiently the break(s) in a primary retinal detachment has been the aim and accompanied the efforts of retinal detachment surgeons during the past 85 years. However, today 4 postulates have to be fulfilled for an adequate and optimal retinal detachment surgery: (1) The retinal reattachment should be obtained with the 1st operation, (2) the procedure should have a minimum of morbidity, (3) not harbour secondary complications jeopardizing regained visual acuity and (4) be performed on a small budget in local anaesthesia.