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September 2017 Update

CORNEAL CROSSLINKING AND WHY THE NEW AUSTRALIAN CROSSLINKING REGISTRY IS IMPORTANT TO YOU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaker Professor Stephanie Watson. Save Sight Institute and head of the Australian Crosslinking Registry project

Dates
Melbourne Tuesday, 24 October, 2017 at 6:45 – 8:30 pm
Amies Theatre
The Australian College of Optometry
Cnr of Keppel and Cardigan Sts, Carlton
Register now

Sydney Thursday, 2 November 2017 at 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Sydney Eye Hospital, Claffy Lecture Theatre
8 Macquarie Street Sydney, NSW 2000
Register here

Corneal crosslinking has become the standard treatment for patients with progressive keratoconus. But what “real world” evidence is there on the safety and efficacy of the various types of crosslinking treatments being offered to patients today? Very little, is the simple answer.

With the support of Keratoconus Australia, the Save Sight Institute recently launched the world’s first Crosslinking Registry to track outcomes of crosslinking performed on keratoconus patients in Australia.

In her talk, Professor Stephanie Watson, who heads the Australian Crosslinking Registry project, will explain what is corneal crosslinking and discuss the latest developments in this procedure – the only treatment which offers a hope of slowing or halting progression in keratoconus.

Professor Watson will also present the Registry and its early results. She will explain why it is important that all crosslinking patients become involved in the Registry project and that they ensure their corneal surgeons are reporting their progress to the Registry.

Patients attending the Sydney talk will also hear from optometrists Margaret Lam and Mark Koszek who will share their extensive experience in contact lens fitting for keratoconus patients.

 

 

NEW WEBSITE and LOGO LAUNCH

We are delighted to announce the launch of the new Keratoconus Australia website and logo.

The new site contains the latest information about keratoconus and the various treatments and strategies for managing life with keratoconus. It will focus on providing practical information for Australian keratoconus patients.

Support for people with keratoconus and their families remains the Association’s key focus and the new website reflects this. All questions about keratoconus can be directed to us via the Contact page. But remember if you are having specific issues, especially urgent ones, please consult your eye-carer or nearest emergency eye hospital.

Our new and detailed Frequently Asked Questions page covers the main topics raised by members and their families when confronting the bewildering array of information about this eye disease.

Treatments have been divided between non-surgical which suit the vast majority of people diagnosed with keratoconus and surgical. Of the surgical options, corneal collagen crosslinking is given particular attention as it is the only one most people will need to consider.

We have also highlighted the need for patients considering crosslinking to ensure their surgeon will be anonymously reporting their case to the Australian Crosslinking Registry to track their outcomes for research purposes.

Where possible, we have given the pros and cons of the various treatments and provided guidance on how to decide which treatment might be appropriate given the particular circumstances facing each patient. For example, often less is more once you pass the age of 35 years as by then the disease tends to slow naturally in most patients.

We have and will to continue to provide a guide to the likely costs of treatments and where lower cost options can be found in Australia.

Our News and Events pages include a live feed of the latest research into keratoconus from around the world and events being staged by Keratoconus Australia during the year. We will also post our KA iNews newsletters there.

Now we want you to help make the site even better.

We would like to add a new Living section to the site as soon as possible. It will contain a range of information about how to best manage keratoconus on a daily basis, tips of all sorts eg. managing contact lenses, surviving surgery,  and hopefully your stories and experiences with… living with keratoconus.

We want you to send us material to include in this part of the site. Please do share for the benefit of the entire keratoconus community.

Finally, the Association has also switched to the more commonly used .org.au domain suffix and can now be found at https://www.keratoconus.org.au. Our email address has also changed to reflect the move.

We can be contacted for all questions relating to keratoconus, support issues and our activities at our new email info@keratoconus.org.au.

Administrative questions about the Association can be directed to Mary Veal at admin@keratoconus.org.au