Rayner at the 2013 XXXI Congress of ESCRS: A global product launch, a Satellite Symposium and a Drink Reception

The XXXI European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons in Amsterdam was attended by over 7,000 delegates.

The Congress was a big event for Rayner as the company launched its first preloaded IOL (C-flex® Advance Aspheric) and unveiled a striking new campaign for the T-flex® toric IOL. The booth was constantly busy throughout the Congress as delegates were enthusiastic to see demonstrations of the new Advance Preloaded, whilst some guests simply wanted to have their photo taken with the eye-catching image of the rotated eye.

As part of the re-invigorated T-flex Toric campaign, Rayner sponsored a Toric Symposium entitled ‘The Toric Solution: Exceeding Expectations in patients with Astigmatism’ on Saturday 5th October.  The satellite symposium attracted 226 registered delegates and proved to be a very enjoyable and highly informative meeting with valuable contributions being made by several eminent speakers:

Mark Packer, M.D
(Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA)  (Moderator)

Thomas Kohnen, MD, PhD, FEBO
(Chairman and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany).

David Kent, MD FRCOphth
(The Vision Clinic Kilkenny, Ireland).

Daniel Black, MBBS, FRANZCO, FRACS
(Sunshine Eye Clinic, Australia).

Sergio Kwitko, MD
(The Oftalmo Centre and the Ophthalmology Department at Hospital de Clínicas, both in Porto Alegre, Brazil).

Professor Kohnen evaluated the differences between the Rayner T-flex IOL and other Toric IOLs on the market based on IOL performance: Uncorrected Distance Visual Acuity, residual astigmatism, misalignment and ease of use. He also spoke about the improvements currently in progress for Rayner’s Specialist IOL Calculator ‘Raytrace®’, which performs toric calculations as part of its service.

Dr Kent provided a personal account of his experience with the T-flex toric IOL, discussing his surgical technique as well as providing some of the pitfalls and pearls he has learned from treating astigmatism.

Dr Black reported very positively on the results of his T-flex retrospective analysis. Dr Black conducted a 507 eye study using the Rayner T-flex from August 2007 – August 2012, and his conclusion was that the Rayner T-flex IOL offers effective long term astigmatic correction.

Dr Kwitko based his presentation on one of his own clinical case studies,  and also spoke about the benefits of Rayner M-flex® T over other competitor products in Brazil. Dr Kwitko also discussed his 50 eye M-flex T study, from which he concluded that the M-flex T is an excellent refractive alternative for near and far vision.

To finish, Professor Packer spoke about the importance of toric IOL alignment and ways in which it can be improved. His concluding remark was that toric IOLs are an effective means for astigmatism correction, however, they are only as effective as the pre-operative and intra-operative diagnostic tools used.

Rayner will provide a multimedia supplement of the Symposium on rayner.com in video format as well as a PDF. Both versions will be on the website as soon as the files are available.

Following on from the Toric Symposium, Rayner hosted one other event on Sunday afternoon – a Drinks Reception to mark the 10th anniversary of the T-flex toric. Dr Gerd Auffarth who implanted the first Rayner toric lens in 2003, together with Rayner CEO Martin Jamieson, jointly cut the giant traditional Dutch cream cake which featured an edible image of a T-flex IOL. Guests were also served sparkling white wine from a vineyard in Sussex not too far from the Rayner headquarters. There was a great atmosphere on the booth as everyone enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate this wonderful achievement.

The 2013 ESCRS proved to be a great success for Rayner.