Santiago de Compostela hosts the 21st Edition of the Pan-American Course on 26-27 April

Organised by the Pan-American Ophthalmology Association and the Spanish Ophthalomology Society, the event will be held at the Galicia Conference and Exhibition Centre.

The scientific programme, which includes talks and symposiums on the principal eye diseases, will boast the participation of the top experts from Latin America, Portugal, Spain and the rest of Europe.

Dr. Monés, the Medical Director of the Barcelona Macula Foundation, has been invited to coordinate the scientific debate on the main developments in AMD, which will take place at 12-2 p.m. on the Course’s second day.

He will also give a talk on the characterisation of foveal findings and rate of progression of geographic atrophy, which is a subject of particular interest when considering the slow progression of atrophic AMD. Exact quantification of the minimum changes produced in critical areas is the only way to discover the extent of the influence of the treatment and therefore to advance in research to combat this disease.

Renowned ophthalmologists from a variety of countries will also take part in the session. These include Dr. Virgil Alfaro (USA), Dr. Olea (Spain), Dr. Martins da Silva (Portugal) and Dr. Hagemann (Brazil).

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in the western world in patients of over 50 years old. This is a degenerative disease which affects the part of the retina which is specialised in seeing fine details clearly.

In its dry type -which still cannot be treated- the lines of research to eradicate this disease range from the clinical application of new molecules in an attempt to halt the progression of the disease to the application of special lasers and regenerative therapies through tissue and stem cell transplants.

Wet AMD, which until recently lacked a cure, may now be halted today with the right treatment. In some cases, the patient may even recover his or her sight.