Reticon, an initiative of Dr. Agarwal’s Retina Foundation, hosted the 11th edition of the annual conference on retinal surgery here on Sunday.

As many as 600 ophthalmologists, including vitreo retina postgraduates and those who had acquired an update on the latest techniques and technology of vitreo retina disorder management that are constantly evolving, participated in the international conference.

Amar Agarwal, chairman of Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospitals, said the conference was envisaged to provide an opportunity to the postgraduates and general ophthalmologists to sneak a quick look on the progression in diagnostics and treatment options in the vitreo retinal speciality.

This year’s theme was “navigating the new normal in retinal surgery.” The sessions revolved around medical retina, surgical retina and vitreo-retinal surgery.
Dr. Agarwal said: “There are about 15 million blind people in India. The retina is part of the eye which is important for the final vision. If it gets damaged, the vision is automatically affected, hence people above the age of 30 must get their retina checked regularly as retinal diseases are today the major cause of preventable blindness compared to other eye diseases, especially age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic macular edema.” Though retinal disease can be effectively managed on timely diagnosis, awareness about the disease is low. Also, in blindness prevention programmes, the focus is on cataracts and glaucoma.
 

With rapid medical advances related to retinal diseases, their management and treatment are becoming much more affordable and effective. However, India suffers from an acute shortfall of skilled experts in retinal ophthalmology. The Reticon conference aims to plug this gap by making the latest advancements and innovations available to all retinal surgeons to improve clinical outcomes,” Dr. Agarwal said.

More information is available at https://reticon.in.

Telangana governor and Lt. Governor of Puducherry, Tamilisai Soundararajan inaugurated the conference.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/call-to-raise-awareness-about-retinal-diseases/article36935222.ece