21st ESCRS Winter Meeting, Maastricht

16 February, 2017

The European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) held its Winter Meeting in The Netherlands for the first time in its history.

David Spalton, ESCRS president; Mr Janssen, deputy mayor of Maastricht; and Rudy Nuijts, ESCRS treasurer and president of the Netherlands Intra Ocular Implant Club

While The Hague and Amsterdam had previously hosted the annual ESCRS Congress, Maastricht had the honour of being the first Dutch city to host the Winter Meeting. The event, which took place from 10-12 February, was attended by close to 1,000 delegates.

“The Netherlands is a country with a particularly important place in cataract and implant surgery, as without the pioneering work of Cornelius Binkhorst, intraocular lens implants may never have got off the ground,” said ESCRS president David Spalton.

Basic Optics Course	Moderated Poster Session

Prof Spalton said the ESCRS was very pleased to join colleagues from the Netherlands Intra Ocular Implant Club and the Belgian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons for the important event.

The annual Cornea Day was organised in conjunction with EuCornea and Prof Spalton thanked EuCornea for their continued participation in the meeting.

The scientific programme included an extended didactic programme, with courses in basic optics, cataract, refractive surgery and cornea. The Young Ophthalmologists Programme was very well attended and the YO Committee also organised an interesting symposium on the topic ‘The Usual Suspects: How to Handle Your First Complications’.

A live surgery session, organised by Prof Rudy Nuijts and his colleagues at the Maastricht University Medical Centre, was a major highlight of the meeting. There was also a symposium on ‘Contributions of the Low Countries to Ophthalmology’, organised by the Netherlands Intra Ocular Implant Club and the Belgian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.