Prof. James S. Wolffsohn

 

Speaker：

Prof. James S. Wolffsohn

Institution：

Professor of Optometry at Aston University 

British Contact Lens Association

Position：

Professor 

Academic Chair of the British Contact Lens Association

Presentation Title (1)：

Dry Eye Implications associated with myopia management

Abstract(1)：

While there is no known direct link between the mechanisms behind myopia development and dry eye, they can be linked in a number of ways. Increased near work and time outdoors are lifestyle environments associated with myopia development and progression and both are risk factors for dry eye disease, in particular due to the impact of digital display use on blinking. 

Contact lenses are one of the key treatments that have emerged to reduce myopic progression, while contact lens use can impact both aqueous deficient and evaporative dry eye disease. Research suggests the meibomian glands can be damaged through contact lenses wear, impairing the quality and stability of the tear film. Pharmaceutical approached for myopia control may contain preservatives or stabilising agents that can disrupt the tear film and ocular surface. Therefore while myopia is primarily related to the posterior eye, monitoring of the anterior eye is also critical in this population.

Presentation Title (2)：

IMI white paper on clinical management of myopia

Abstract(2)：

With the growing prevalence of myopia, already at epidemic levels in some countries, there is an urgent need for new management approaches. However, with the increasing number of research publications on the topic of myopia control, there is also a clear necessity for agreement and guidance on key issues, including on how myopia should be defined and how interventions, validated by well conducted clinical trials, should be appropriately and ethically applied. 

The International Myopia Institute’s (IMI) mission is to advance research, education, and management of myopia to reduce future vision impairment and blindness associated with increasing myopia. Its approach is to bring together scientists, clinicians, policy makers, government members and educators into the field of myopia to stimulate collaboration and sharing of knowledge. The IMI white papers published in 2019 provided critical review and synthesis of the research evidence to-date, from animal models, genetics, clinical studies and randomized controlled trials, by over 85 multidisciplinary experts in the field. The seven generated reports summarized: Defining and Classifying Myopia; Experimental Models of Emmetropization and Myopia; Myopia Genetics; Interventions for Myopia Onset and Progression; Clinical Myopia Control Trials and Instrumentation; Industry Guidelines and Ethical Considerations for Myopia Control; Clinical Myopia Management Guidelines. 

The latest 2021 white paper are on pathologic myopia, the impact of myopia, risk factors for myopia, accommodation and binocular vision in myopia development and progression, and prevention of myopia and its progression. Together with the digest updating the 2019 IMI white papers using the research published in the last 18 months, these evidence-based consensus white papers help to clarify the imperative for myopia control and the role of environmental modification initiatives, informing an evidence-based clinical approach. This includes who to treat and when to start or stop treatment, and the advantages and limitations of different management approaches.