ESCRS Academy in Riga

The Baltic Eye Surgeons Talk Show (BEST) is a yearly conference that is earmarked in the agendas of many of our Baltic colleagues. This year’s edition – presided over by Prof Guna Laganovska – took place at the end of August in Jūrmala, a Baltic sea resort close to Riga, capital of Latvia. I was part of an ESCRS delegation that travelled to the conference. Not merely to listen to and network with our Baltic colleagues, but to share our own experiences and best practices in the ESCRS academy. The session kicked off with David Spalton, who walked the audience through the ins and outs of preparing a patient for toric lens surgery. Preoperative keratometry, biometry and lens formulae were discussed and there was a clear preference for the Barrett formula. For my part, I presented surgical alignment techniques and showed that simple marking can still play a role in our toric lens practice. Paul Rosen discussed an approach to fine-tuning refractive outcomes or surprises. He encouraged us not to jump straight into an IOL exchange. Florian Kretz ran through a dizzying array of premium EDOF IOL technologies, underscoring that there is no one size that fits all. Jonathan Moore presented some on his extensive trifocal IOL experience and gave and overview on the extensive research that he and his team do in this field. Richard Packard covered the unhappy multifocal patients and told us how a listening ear can often help a patient more than a surgical knife. The clear standout moment, however, was when Andrea Rosa presented her work on functional MRI confirmation of the neuroadaptation process. Her MRIs showed areas of the brain lighting up as beautifully as the fireworks at the gala dinner that night. BEST has been a great experience. We all felt truly welcome, and Prof Laganovska did her society and her beautiful country proud with this wonderfully organised conference.