nternational Advanced Vitreo Retinal Surgery Course (9th IAVRSC) Conference at Stockholm, Sweden

International Advanced Vitreo Retinal Surgery Course

(9th IAVRSC) Conference

Mumbai: Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital Celebrates 20th Anniversary this year. 9th International Advanced Vitreo Retinal Surgery Course (9th IAVRSC) is organized by Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, Mumbai, India in association with St. Eriks Eye Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden on 18th & 19th September 2010 at Stockholm Sweden. This meeting has received European Accredition Council for continuing Medical Education (EACCME) Accredition of 11 Points. Aditay Jyot is the only institute in India to have European accreditation for a conference. The institute is affiliated to Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University & recognized by Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Both Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital and St Eriks Eye Hospital are celebrating their 20 years of existence. Aditya Jyot eye Hospital is recognized by Maharashtra Medical Council for CME credits attained. Subsequently the IAVRSC Conference is granted reciprocal recognition by Maharashtra Medical Council. So doctors recognized by MMC will get CME credits.

Stockholm as capital of Sweden has much to offer apart from an excellent setting for any scientific meeting. This city was founded in 1250 & is uniquely situated on a host of islands & place where noble prizes are given. Since the gates opened to the public in February 2000, St Eriks Eye Hospital has been affiliated with the renowned Karolinska Institutet. The institute is one of the few universities worldwide, dedicated solely to medicine and since 1906 the Nobel Prize of Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Committee of the Karolinska Institutet. Currently, more than 40 % of medical research in Sweden is channeled through the Karolinska Institutet.

IAVRSC was initially conceptualized as an update on the frontiers of the ever-expanding field of Vitreo retinal surgery. The first meet was held in Mumbai in 1993 and was attended by stalwarts like Zivojnovic, Stanley Chang, Claus Eckardt, Yannick Le Mer, Fumitaka Ando, S.S. Badrinath, Lingam Gopal, Tarun Sharma, PN Nagpal etal. For the first time in India so many experts in retina had gathered to enlighten the practicing ophthalmologists & retina specialists. This event being held every 2 years has not only served its initial purpose but has grown into one of the most sought after meetings for the most recent developments in the field of VR diseases. IAVRSC was held in Mumbai till 2005 after which it was held at Chennai, Ahmadabad, Malaysia & this year at Stockholm, Sweden.

For the first time in history of IAVRSC, the 8^th meeting was held outside India in Malaysia in January 2008 which was a grand success. Encouraged by the response to the 8^th IAVRSC, this time again they have chosen Stockholm, Sweden for a more global & wider audience. 18^th & 19^th September, 2010 promises to be an academic & surgical extravaganza with top surgeons from all over the globe participating in this scientific fiesta. From artificial retina & vitreous surgery to medical ethics, gene therapy, recent trends & management of irreversible retinal blindness etc will be discussed. The faculty Members,  Dr Gisbert Richard from Hamburg, Germany is a pioneer on Artificial retina, Dr Barbazetto is a leading academician and VR surgeon from New York, Dr J Schmidt is a leading VR surgeon from Marburg, Germany, Dr Stefan Seregard is a leading ocular oncologist from Stockhom and Dr Pran Nagpal is one of the senior most VR surgeons of India & Dr. Lalit Verma Secretary of All  India Ophthalmological Society, India.

There are about 10 million blind persons worldwide due to Retinal Degenerative problems such as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). About 314 million people are visually impaired worldwide; 45 million of them are blind. The global burden of blindness will grow to 75 million by the year 2020. Most people with visual impairment are older, and females are more at risk at every age, in every part of the world. About 87% of the world's visually impaired live in developing countries. The number of people blinded by infectious diseases has been greatly reduced, but age-related impairment is increasing tremendously. Globally, about 85% of all visual impairment and 75% of blindness can be prevented or cured.

Artificial Retina: First converts images into pixels. Then it electrically stimulates the retina by a pattern of electrodes. It would recreate at least in part the visual information. It requires massive image processing. In short, we are making a chip, that codes for eye and brain.

Gene Therapy: Gene therapy is the insertion of genes into an individual's cell and biological tissues to treat eye disease, such as Leber's congenital amaurosis is a degenerative disease of the retina, the tissue at the back of the eye where images focus. Patients have a defective version of the RPE65 gene, which produces a protein needed to convey images to the brain. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it has been used with some success. Scientific breakthroughs continue to move gene therapy toward mainstream medicine.

Stem Cells: It is a procedure that introduces new cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body during early life and growth. Millions of people with optical conditions such as macular degeneration (loss of sight experienced by the elderly), diabetic retinopathy, and a variety of other forms of blindness could be able to regain sight with stem cell therapy.

Patron & IAVRSC Course Director Dr.S. Natarajan Chairman & Managing Director of Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital. Dr. Natarajan, the world renowned surgeon hailing from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, South India, a 3^rd Generation Ophthalmologist, one of the youngest in the country and in the world itself. He became Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the age of 28 years, under the guidance of the internationally reputed surgeon Dr. S. S. Badrinath at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai & second mentor Prof. Relja Zivojnovic from Montenegro. Being the Chairman & Managing Director of the reputed Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital. Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai he is full time devoted eye surgeon for his patients from all around the world & a researcher par excellence, especially in artificial retina & stem cell transplantation in retinal degenerative disease.

Dr. Arindam Chakravarti is a vitreo retina consultant in Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, Mumbai, India. He did Vitreo retinal fellowship from Medical Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya Chennai, India. He has authored chapters in Ophthalmology textbooks & presented several papers in various national & International conferences & workshops. He is currently the co investigator in various ongoing clinical trials.