The Lublin branch of the European School of Advanced Studies in Ophthalmology (ESASO) has started an international course of diagnosing and treating retinal diseases for doctors with completed ophthalmology specialization. In the well-equipped university Medical Simulation Centre, ten prominent professors from Europe and the United States teach classes for 30 domestic and foreign doctors.
The substantive supervision over the course of the five-day training coordinated by Italian professors Bruno Falcomatà and Mario Toro is exercised by professor Robert Rejdak, head of the General Ophthalmology Clinic SPSK No. 1 and president of the Association of Polish Ophthalmologists Surgeons. Andrea Cocila from Switzerland supervised the organization of the training.
Before the establishment of the Lublin branch of ESASO, such trainings took place exclusively in the Swiss Lugano. For two years, they have also been conducted regularly in Lublin. Under the supervision of authorities in the field of world ophthalmology, doctors will be trained in independent diagnostic tests and in planning therapy with the use of anti-VEGF preparations according to the latest world standards.
The training is divided into several thematic blocks devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of diabetic macular oedema (DME), macular degeneration (AMD) and innovative therapies for retinal diseases and complications. Doctors participating in the training today listened to several lectures given by world specialists Stanley Chang from the USA and Mario Toro from Italy and Polish authorities in the field of ophthalmology Katarzyna Michalska-Małecka, Sławomir Teper and Robert Rejdak. 
Both macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy as well as macular degeneration are very dangerous eye diseases, which can lead to irreversible blindness due to retinal degradation. Thanks to the enormous progress in ophthalmology, every year more and more effective therapeutic methods and drugs of the new generation are introduced in the form of intraocular injection, which protect patients against loss of sight.
During the training, doctors with ophthalmic specialty will learn how to use innovative methods in practice under the supervision of specialists.
In the following days, the participants will listen to further lectures conducted by Anniken Burés Jelstrup from Spain, Massimo Nicolò and Luca Di Antonio from Italy, Günther Weigert from Austria and Eberhart Zrenner from Germany, who has been intensively cooperating with the Lublin General Ophthalmology Clinic for over 20 years. (JC)
