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Madrid, March 8, 2024. The XXVII edition of the annual congress of the Spanish Retina and Vitreous Society (SERV) has begun with the attendance of more than 1,000 specialists from around the world. Thus, on March 8 and 9, the best international ophthalmologists will meet to exchange and update knowledge, and address the latest news and advances in the main diseases of the retina, choroid and vitreous.
The application of artificial intelligence, the challenges in retinal surgery, new pharmacological treatments for macular diseases or the arrival of new gene therapies will be some of the topics to be discussed during the two days of the congress.
“In this edition we have important news, some of them related to new medications that we have for the treatment of very prevalent diseases that cause blindness. We will also discuss advances in artificial intelligence and safety issues, how some drugs can cause problems in our patients and trying to adopt measures to avoid them,” says the president of SERV, Professor Alfredo García Layana.
The use of technology within surgery and new techniques for treating the retina and other pathologies will also be some of the main topics during the congress. As the vice president of the SERV, Dr. Luis Arias Barquet, explains: “The retina is at the back of the eye and imaging techniques to visualize it are very important. Currently, we have wide-field photographs that allow us to see the entire peripheral retina, the central part, scanners that allow us to see the analysis of the layers of the retina very well. And as for surgery, we have high-tech microscopes based on 3D technology, which means that the surgeon is looking at a screen with a lot of magnification and that allows surgical maneuvers to be performed with much more detail.”
Medal of Honor to Dr. Johanna M. Seddon
During the first opening day, the 2024 Medal of Honor was also presented to the American ophthalmologist Johanna M. Seddon, a leading doctor in the prevention of AMD at an international level who has managed to save the sight of millions of people throughout the world. world thanks to his work in epidemiology.
Dr. Seddon was very grateful to receive the award and spoke about some of the challenges facing ophthalmology in the future: “One of them is reducing treatments for macular degeneration and improving therapies for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.” . Also the prevention of some of these diseases that would reduce the burden of treatment, as well as improve care for certain segments of the population that do not have access.”
Likewise, the congress will have the participation of five renowned experts from the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal and Mexico who have attended to contribute and share their experience and knowledge with the rest of the specialists.
The ophthalmologists of the future
Another important event that will take place during the second day of the congress will be the VIII SERV <40 Meeting, a space in which ophthalmologists under 40 years of age will participate.
Manuel Sáenz de Viteri, coordinator of the SERV <40, highlights the importance of this type of meeting for the training of young ophthalmologists and the future of the specialty: “Young people are used to handling computer tools that are no longer just the future. , but they are beginning to be the present of our profession. It is fundamental and essential to focus all efforts so that their training is guaranteed with this type of congress and with this type of meeting, where the programs are specially designed to be attractive and close to what their daily life is like."
Within this space, the second edition of the Surgical Video Contest will also be held, a key initiative for the practice of its training. “In addition to the surgical retina video contest, this year as a novelty, experts who have done training programs both nationally and abroad will share with the rest how to access these programs, and then we have medical retina tables where we talk about the latest developments in centralized therapy treatments, which is practically the large volume of patients we have in retina consultations and which is what most interests the majority of those who work in general hospitals,” says Isora Follana, coordinator of the SERV. <40.
For more information: https://www.congresoserv.org/
About SERV
The Spanish Society of Retina and Vitreous is a non-profit scientific association that aims to promote the study of diseases of the retina, choroid and vitreous. Among its objectives are establishing exchanges to expand, promote and update studies related to the pathology and surgery of the retina, choroid and vitreous, promote the dissemination of therapeutic methods, and contribute to the training and updating of its members in this area of the knowledge.
Issuer: SERV
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