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1970 Oxford Ophthalmological Congress
VOL. 70, NO. 4
MEETINGS, CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA
man Room of the Biltmore Hotel for a reception preceding a formal dinner dance in the grand ballroom. Board members, Mrs. Walter Nelson Pharr and Mr. I. Townsend Burden, Jr., committee co-chairwomen of the Sesquicentennial Ball, did a superb job. The decor was pleasing, geraniums and can dles were on the tables ; this sight, excellent food, and a good orchestra set the pace for a pleasant evening for the more than 600 peo ple who attended. The following morning executive surgeon director J. Gorden Cole chaired a symposium on surgery of the orbit and adnexa. Another free paper preceded the afternoon meeting, ocular therapeutics—1970, moderated by Mount Sinai's chief of ophthalmology, Irv ing H. Leopold. Later, Arnold W. Forrest presented his ideas on the current management of lacrimal gland tumors. The meeting closed with the paper, angiography and differential diagno sis of orbital tumors, by Professor Alfred Huber, president of the Swiss Ophthalmo logical Society. The ophthalmology program attracted 350 registrants from 33 states and 12 foreign countries. The Infirmary's annual medical meeting was held in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial celebration. A total of 82 speakers spoke to the ophthalmological scien tific session. Plans are underway for the 44th annual clinical conference in ophthalmology to be held on May 6 and 7, 1971, at the Bilt more Hotel. John T. Simonton 1970 OXFORD OPHTHALMOLOGICAL CONGRESS The 55th annual meeting of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress was held July 6-8, 1970, at the Laboratory of Physiology with the Master, Stephen J. H. Miller, pre siding. Some 45 new members joined an other 350 members attending the meeting
641
and under sunny skies learned first-hand of British hospitality and world-wide ophthal mology. The Oxford meeting is like no other— members live in student quarters in Balliol College of the University and dine in the Commons. Possibly as much ophthalmology is learned in discussions while walking to and from the lecture hall, or in one's room, as at the formal meetings, and the tranquil gardens of the colleges, the many bookshops, the libraries, and the opportunity to renew ing old friendships provide a unique atmos phere. The meeting opened with a superbly or ganized discussion of superanuclear control of ocular movements and the oculomotor in volvement in supranuclear lesions. An ex cellent correlation of experimental and clini cal studies was offered. These papers in the Transactions may well became a standard reference source. For those who like acro nyms and mnemonics, two emerged to de scribe the ocular movements following ca loric stimulation of the vestibular apparatus : COWS—Cold Opposite Warm Same, and for simultaneous stimulation of both sides, CUWD—Cold Up Warm Down. A miscellaneous group of papers led to discussion of a wide variety of retinal dis orders. Photocoagulation appears to be widely used in diabetic retinopathy, but with quite different indications: background ret inopathy, proliferative, or exudative types. The final morning was devoted to a sym posium on toxic and nutritional optic neu ropathies. There was much mention of alco hol-tobacco amblyopia, the decreased plasma thiocyanate level in this disorder, and pos sible metabolic pathways. Hydrosycoulain seemed beneficial as did (in a small series) intravenous thiocyanate. With all of this, there seemed to be no explanation for the infrequency of this diagnosis in the United States. British-American ophthalmic dis course could be clarified if some diplomat would clear the semantic confusion sur round this topic.
642
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
OCTOBER, 1970
The Doyne Memorial Lecture, the most important event of the Congress, was pre sented by Professor G. W. Crock of Mel bourne, Australia, who, not too many years ago, was training at Moorfield's and became the youngest man ever to give the lecture. He discussed stereo technology in medicine in a very well organized lecture using three projectors. The main points concerned stereo photography, stereo-ophthalmoscopy, and microscopic surgery. The major emphasis was upon analyses of retinal and optic disk depth utilizing the principles of aerial pho tography. The lecture provided an intrigu ing glimpse of the future with a synthesis of the skills and instruments of engineering by one who has already provided major ad vances in ophthalmology.
PROCEEDINGS O F T H E N E W ENGLAND OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The 514th meeting of the New England Ophthalmological Society was held on May 12,1970 in Boston, Massachusetts. Henry A. Mosher, President, moderated the meeting. P. F. Lee and O. Pomerantzeff presented en couraging evidence that the ciliary processes can be photocoagulated with the Argon green laser. They found the photocoagulation effec tive in the normal and buphthalmic rabbit eyes. A special contact lens, designed by the authors, is necessary for this treatment. An 8 mm drop in pressure was noted over a 12month period due to their treatment, which could be attributed to reduced aqueous pro duction.
The remainder of the scientific program was a potpourri of ophthalmic topics: an excellent film of glaucoma surgery by Joaquin Barraquer, case reports, ultrastructure of the iris in uveitis and the choroid in dia betes, bilateral cataract extraction in 585 in dividuals, experience with intraocular lenses, and the like. The social events constituted an integral part of the meeting. A garden party the first day allowed renewal of old friendships and the opportunity for making new ones. The annual banquet room was filled to overflow ing; those who met in the adjoining hall for dinner observed the events (with much less formality) over closed-circuit television. As always, it was a gracious, happy meeting and the officers, council, and all those responsible made a major effort to make it so. Alan Stanworth of Sheffield was named Master to succeed Stephen J. H. Miller. The next meeting will be July 5-7, 1971. Inas much as accommodations are limited, prior arrangements to attend must be made with the Secretary, W. Martin Walker, 609, War wick Road, Solihull, Warwickshire, Eng land. Frank W. Newell
Jules L. Baum and Murray Feingold dis cussed an additional 10 cases of Goldenhar's syndrome (oculo-auriculovertebral dysplasia). They found irregular astigmatism to be proportional to the size of the limbic dermoid. John C. Snow and Thomas J. Keenan dis cussed malignant hyperpyrexia. Temperature often rises to 105 to 112° and threatens life. They experienced three such episodes in 150,000 general anesthesias. One patient died and two survived. The authors feel that survival depends on early diagnosis and careful supportive measures. A successful previous general anesthesia does not rule out the development of the malignant hyperpy rexia. Ernest H. Christman of Sante Fe, New Mexico, evaluated and treated aniseikonia with contact lens-spectacle combinations in the aphakic patient. He found that most aphakic patients required about five diopters of artificial myopia to correct the aniseikonia. David Knox of Baltimore discussed the variations in ocular toxoplasmosis cases. Al though the disease may have its onset from age five to 58, most patients experience their first episode at about puberty. The length of the attack averaged four months, but tended to lengthen and become worse in the older patient. Although most patients had only one
MEETINGS, CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA
man Room of the Biltmore Hotel for a reception preceding a formal dinner dance in the grand ballroom. Board members, Mrs. Walter Nelson Pharr and Mr. I. Townsend Burden, Jr., committee co-chairwomen of the Sesquicentennial Ball, did a superb job. The decor was pleasing, geraniums and can dles were on the tables ; this sight, excellent food, and a good orchestra set the pace for a pleasant evening for the more than 600 peo ple who attended. The following morning executive surgeon director J. Gorden Cole chaired a symposium on surgery of the orbit and adnexa. Another free paper preceded the afternoon meeting, ocular therapeutics—1970, moderated by Mount Sinai's chief of ophthalmology, Irv ing H. Leopold. Later, Arnold W. Forrest presented his ideas on the current management of lacrimal gland tumors. The meeting closed with the paper, angiography and differential diagno sis of orbital tumors, by Professor Alfred Huber, president of the Swiss Ophthalmo logical Society. The ophthalmology program attracted 350 registrants from 33 states and 12 foreign countries. The Infirmary's annual medical meeting was held in conjunction with the Sesquicentennial celebration. A total of 82 speakers spoke to the ophthalmological scien tific session. Plans are underway for the 44th annual clinical conference in ophthalmology to be held on May 6 and 7, 1971, at the Bilt more Hotel. John T. Simonton 1970 OXFORD OPHTHALMOLOGICAL CONGRESS The 55th annual meeting of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress was held July 6-8, 1970, at the Laboratory of Physiology with the Master, Stephen J. H. Miller, pre siding. Some 45 new members joined an other 350 members attending the meeting
641
and under sunny skies learned first-hand of British hospitality and world-wide ophthal mology. The Oxford meeting is like no other— members live in student quarters in Balliol College of the University and dine in the Commons. Possibly as much ophthalmology is learned in discussions while walking to and from the lecture hall, or in one's room, as at the formal meetings, and the tranquil gardens of the colleges, the many bookshops, the libraries, and the opportunity to renew ing old friendships provide a unique atmos phere. The meeting opened with a superbly or ganized discussion of superanuclear control of ocular movements and the oculomotor in volvement in supranuclear lesions. An ex cellent correlation of experimental and clini cal studies was offered. These papers in the Transactions may well became a standard reference source. For those who like acro nyms and mnemonics, two emerged to de scribe the ocular movements following ca loric stimulation of the vestibular apparatus : COWS—Cold Opposite Warm Same, and for simultaneous stimulation of both sides, CUWD—Cold Up Warm Down. A miscellaneous group of papers led to discussion of a wide variety of retinal dis orders. Photocoagulation appears to be widely used in diabetic retinopathy, but with quite different indications: background ret inopathy, proliferative, or exudative types. The final morning was devoted to a sym posium on toxic and nutritional optic neu ropathies. There was much mention of alco hol-tobacco amblyopia, the decreased plasma thiocyanate level in this disorder, and pos sible metabolic pathways. Hydrosycoulain seemed beneficial as did (in a small series) intravenous thiocyanate. With all of this, there seemed to be no explanation for the infrequency of this diagnosis in the United States. British-American ophthalmic dis course could be clarified if some diplomat would clear the semantic confusion sur round this topic.
642
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
OCTOBER, 1970
The Doyne Memorial Lecture, the most important event of the Congress, was pre sented by Professor G. W. Crock of Mel bourne, Australia, who, not too many years ago, was training at Moorfield's and became the youngest man ever to give the lecture. He discussed stereo technology in medicine in a very well organized lecture using three projectors. The main points concerned stereo photography, stereo-ophthalmoscopy, and microscopic surgery. The major emphasis was upon analyses of retinal and optic disk depth utilizing the principles of aerial pho tography. The lecture provided an intrigu ing glimpse of the future with a synthesis of the skills and instruments of engineering by one who has already provided major ad vances in ophthalmology.
PROCEEDINGS O F T H E N E W ENGLAND OPHTHALMOLOGICAL SOCIETY The 514th meeting of the New England Ophthalmological Society was held on May 12,1970 in Boston, Massachusetts. Henry A. Mosher, President, moderated the meeting. P. F. Lee and O. Pomerantzeff presented en couraging evidence that the ciliary processes can be photocoagulated with the Argon green laser. They found the photocoagulation effec tive in the normal and buphthalmic rabbit eyes. A special contact lens, designed by the authors, is necessary for this treatment. An 8 mm drop in pressure was noted over a 12month period due to their treatment, which could be attributed to reduced aqueous pro duction.
The remainder of the scientific program was a potpourri of ophthalmic topics: an excellent film of glaucoma surgery by Joaquin Barraquer, case reports, ultrastructure of the iris in uveitis and the choroid in dia betes, bilateral cataract extraction in 585 in dividuals, experience with intraocular lenses, and the like. The social events constituted an integral part of the meeting. A garden party the first day allowed renewal of old friendships and the opportunity for making new ones. The annual banquet room was filled to overflow ing; those who met in the adjoining hall for dinner observed the events (with much less formality) over closed-circuit television. As always, it was a gracious, happy meeting and the officers, council, and all those responsible made a major effort to make it so. Alan Stanworth of Sheffield was named Master to succeed Stephen J. H. Miller. The next meeting will be July 5-7, 1971. Inas much as accommodations are limited, prior arrangements to attend must be made with the Secretary, W. Martin Walker, 609, War wick Road, Solihull, Warwickshire, Eng land. Frank W. Newell
Jules L. Baum and Murray Feingold dis cussed an additional 10 cases of Goldenhar's syndrome (oculo-auriculovertebral dysplasia). They found irregular astigmatism to be proportional to the size of the limbic dermoid. John C. Snow and Thomas J. Keenan dis cussed malignant hyperpyrexia. Temperature often rises to 105 to 112° and threatens life. They experienced three such episodes in 150,000 general anesthesias. One patient died and two survived. The authors feel that survival depends on early diagnosis and careful supportive measures. A successful previous general anesthesia does not rule out the development of the malignant hyperpy rexia. Ernest H. Christman of Sante Fe, New Mexico, evaluated and treated aniseikonia with contact lens-spectacle combinations in the aphakic patient. He found that most aphakic patients required about five diopters of artificial myopia to correct the aniseikonia. David Knox of Baltimore discussed the variations in ocular toxoplasmosis cases. Al though the disease may have its onset from age five to 58, most patients experience their first episode at about puberty. The length of the attack averaged four months, but tended to lengthen and become worse in the older patient. Although most patients had only one