The Orthokeratology Society of Oceania (OSO) is very excited about the upcoming conference July 9-11th this year on the Gold Coast. The theme of this year's conference centres around myopia control.
Three years ago Associate Professor Helen Swarbrick and the Research in Orthokeratology Group (ROK) set up a case control study to thoroughly investigate the worldwide claims of myopia control using orthokeratology. Dr Swarbrick will be presenting the results of this study for the first time in Australia at the Orthokeratology Conference. The results, as yet unknown, are to be released to the public in early 2010 at the ARVO conference in the USA. They will have a significant effect on the practice of orthokeratology in Australia, New Zealand and internationally. Recent prospective studies in Hong Kong and in the USA have found that orthokeratology contact lens wear slows axial length progression, the best objective measure of myopia progression. These studies suffered because they did not use a case control model.
A good candidate for orthokeratology treatment is a rapidly progressing young myope who is quickly getting to the limit of orthokeratology, on average -4.00 dioptres or more. With their rate of progression, it would be anticipated that such patients will progress to > -6.00 in the not too distant future. There has always been a concern about children and contact lenses, especially when it concerns overnight wear. Contact lens specialists fit young children and even babies with contact lenses for conditions present from birth. However, contact lenses are not routinely prescribed for children due to concerns about a child's ability to insert and remove lenses, clean and store them properly, and manage any problems that may occur.
Recently, a study has alleviated some concerns. Jeff Walline and colleagues1 found that children aged from eight to 11 years were able to independently care for daily disposable lenses. The age criteria for the ROK group's myopia control study are children from ages eight to 16 years. These children have worn overnight ortho-k lenses and, in general, are in charge of insertion, removal, cleaning and so on of these lenses. Experiences such as these suggest that our fear that children are not responsible enough to wear contact lenses may be unfounded but precautions need to be taken. Speakers at the conference will be a mix of local and international experts in OK, both in research and in practice.
Continuing on the myopia theme, practitioners will share their experiences of children and orthokeratology, and issues such as safety and communicating with children will be covered. Issues such as safety and dealing with children will be covered and there have been exciting developments in the treatment of astigmatism and hyperopia with orthokeratology. Cutting edge research will be combined with lectures on the fundamentals of OK, clinical pearls, and business aspects of OK. This years conference will surely see Orthokeratology and optometry moving towards interesting times.
Attendance of the conference is open to all optometrists, educators and ophthalmologists and will be held on 9th-11th July 2010 at the Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast. Details are available on the Orthokeratology Society of Oceania's website.
References:
1. Walline J, Long S, Zadnick K, Daily disposable contact lens wear in myopic children. Optom Vis Sci 2004; 81: 254-258.
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