Everything on Corneal Reshaping at the Gold Coast in Australia
OSO 2010
July 9th to 11th 2010
Gavin Boneham PhD, BOptom, BSc.
The 8th conference of the Orthokeratology Society of Oceania was held on the Gold Coast,
Australia, from July 9th to 11th, 2010. Unlike our other conferences, which were held in the
warm temperatures of spring, this one took place in mid winter. Not the best time to visit a
beach side holiday destination like the Gold Coast - however, this did not prevent interest. A
record 160 registrants attended, with 25 coming from New Zealand. The previous record was
120 registrants. The timetable for the entire weekend promised something for everyone (see
below), ranging from beginners classes to advanced fitters discussion groups.
The Peripheral Retina Model
The first day covered clinicial aspects of this modality. We welcomed John Mountford back to the
podium, after a break of a few years. His style was as refreshing as ever, and the content
covered the current ‘hot topics’ of orthokeratology. He feels the peripheral retina model plays a
significant role in myopia progression. It is his belief that optometrists will over time become
more and more involved in managing myopia progression. He discussed how orthokeratology
has been proven to control myopia progression and that it has the best risk-benefit ratio of all
the methods available. His opinion was that it will be a significant technique in the battle
against myopia.
Other topics covered on the first day were the use of orthokeratology to treat astigmatism and
hyperopia.
The second day had a high calibre line-up of presentations by various academics, researchers
and practitioners. Helen Swarbrick began the day reporting the very positive results from her
orthokeratology and myopia control study. It compared myopia progression in children who
wore an Ortho-k lens in one eye at nighttime and an RGP lens in the other during the day. This
combination of lenses was worn over a period of 6 months. At 6 months, the lenses were
swapped over to the other eye. The researchers used axial length measurement to determine
myopia progression. The eyes that wore the orthokeratology lens experienced an initial
shortening of the axial length, while the other eyes, wearing an RGP lens, lengthened. This
shortening of the axial length was thought to result from choroidal thickening, which has been
found to occur when a myopic stimulus is removed.
Interestingly, when the crossover occurred, the eyes that had shortened lengthened again,
while the other eyes’ axial length shortened. These results were highly significant. Helen’s
conclusions were that orthokeratology, in the short term (6 months), slows the progression of
myopia. She could not predict, or say, what would happen over the long term.
Other Methods of Myopia Control
Jeff Walline presented a great summary of the history of myopia control methods and research,
including bifocals, atropine, pirenzipine, gas permeables and orthokeratology. The most
effective means was atropine; however, the risks associated with this outweigh the benefits.
An interesting result found in the atropine studies was that myopia progression stopped for
the first year, but after one year myopia progression continued at the same rate as the control
group. Orthokeratology has been shown to slow progression by approximately 50%, making it
the next most effective treatment after atropine. Unlike atropine and other treatments such as
bifocals, the effect that orthokeratology treatment had on myopia continued after one year,
giving Jeff the grounds for the opinion that orthokeratology is the best modality for myopia
control.
Infection Risk
Mark Bullimore presented on the risk of infection when using orthokeratology, based on the
results of his post FDA study. It appears that the risk of infection is slightly less than that of
overnight extended wear with soft contact lenses. One has to alert patients to this when fitting
Ortho-k. As with all contact lens modalities, compliance with lens care is a major issue.
Optics
There was an interesting presentation by Michael Collins from Queensland University of
Technology, who discussed the role of optics and other factors involved in myopia progression.
He proposed three models for myopia progression, one being peripheral retinal image shell, the
second spherical aberration and the third a lag in accommodation. A further presentation by
students in the ROK Group investigated peripheral refraction and astigmatism.
Quality
The quality of the lectures was extremely high, and the lecturers, attendees and sponsors all
commented on how much they learned at and enjoyed the conference. Unlike other conferences
at which optometrists attend to accumulate points, it has always been the case at this
conference that participants were keen to learn. The quality of the lecture program and the rest
of the conference reflected well on the organizing committee, headed by Celia Bloxsom.
The conference showed the increasing interest in orthokeratology as a technique to be used at
the forefront in Optometry’s battle against myopia progression.
OSO 2010
July 9th to 11th 2010
Gavin Boneham PhD, BOptom, BSc.
The 8th conference of the Orthokeratology Society of Oceania was held on the Gold Coast,
Australia, from July 9th to 11th, 2010. Unlike our other conferences, which were held in the
warm temperatures of spring, this one took place in mid winter. Not the best time to visit a
beach side holiday destination like the Gold Coast - however, this did not prevent interest. A
record 160 registrants attended, with 25 coming from New Zealand. The previous record was
120 registrants. The timetable for the entire weekend promised something for everyone (see
below), ranging from beginners classes to advanced fitters discussion groups.
The Peripheral Retina Model
The first day covered clinicial aspects of this modality. We welcomed John Mountford back to the
podium, after a break of a few years. His style was as refreshing as ever, and the content
covered the current ‘hot topics’ of orthokeratology. He feels the peripheral retina model plays a
significant role in myopia progression. It is his belief that optometrists will over time become
more and more involved in managing myopia progression. He discussed how orthokeratology
has been proven to control myopia progression and that it has the best risk-benefit ratio of all
the methods available. His opinion was that it will be a significant technique in the battle
against myopia.
- “Orthokeratology has been proven to control myopia progression and that it has the best risk-
benefit ratio of all the methods available in the battle against myopia”
John Mountford
Other topics covered on the first day were the use of orthokeratology to treat astigmatism and
hyperopia.
The second day had a high calibre line-up of presentations by various academics, researchers
and practitioners. Helen Swarbrick began the day reporting the very positive results from her
orthokeratology and myopia control study. It compared myopia progression in children who
wore an Ortho-k lens in one eye at nighttime and an RGP lens in the other during the day. This
combination of lenses was worn over a period of 6 months. At 6 months, the lenses were
swapped over to the other eye. The researchers used axial length measurement to determine
myopia progression. The eyes that wore the orthokeratology lens experienced an initial
shortening of the axial length, while the other eyes, wearing an RGP lens, lengthened. This
shortening of the axial length was thought to result from choroidal thickening, which has been
found to occur when a myopic stimulus is removed.
- “The eye that wore the orthokeratology lens experienced an initial shortening of the axial
length, while the other eye, wearing an RGP lens, lengthened.”
Helen Swarbrick
Interestingly, when the crossover occurred, the eyes that had shortened lengthened again,
while the other eyes’ axial length shortened. These results were highly significant. Helen’s
conclusions were that orthokeratology, in the short term (6 months), slows the progression of
myopia. She could not predict, or say, what would happen over the long term.
Other Methods of Myopia Control
Jeff Walline presented a great summary of the history of myopia control methods and research,
including bifocals, atropine, pirenzipine, gas permeables and orthokeratology. The most
effective means was atropine; however, the risks associated with this outweigh the benefits.
An interesting result found in the atropine studies was that myopia progression stopped for
the first year, but after one year myopia progression continued at the same rate as the control
group. Orthokeratology has been shown to slow progression by approximately 50%, making it
the next most effective treatment after atropine. Unlike atropine and other treatments such as
bifocals, the effect that orthokeratology treatment had on myopia continued after one year,
giving Jeff the grounds for the opinion that orthokeratology is the best modality for myopia
control.
Infection Risk
Mark Bullimore presented on the risk of infection when using orthokeratology, based on the
results of his post FDA study. It appears that the risk of infection is slightly less than that of
overnight extended wear with soft contact lenses. One has to alert patients to this when fitting
Ortho-k. As with all contact lens modalities, compliance with lens care is a major issue.
Optics
There was an interesting presentation by Michael Collins from Queensland University of
Technology, who discussed the role of optics and other factors involved in myopia progression.
He proposed three models for myopia progression, one being peripheral retinal image shell, the
second spherical aberration and the third a lag in accommodation. A further presentation by
students in the ROK Group investigated peripheral refraction and astigmatism.
Quality
The quality of the lectures was extremely high, and the lecturers, attendees and sponsors all
commented on how much they learned at and enjoyed the conference. Unlike other conferences
at which optometrists attend to accumulate points, it has always been the case at this
conference that participants were keen to learn. The quality of the lecture program and the rest
of the conference reflected well on the organizing committee, headed by Celia Bloxsom.
The conference showed the increasing interest in orthokeratology as a technique to be used at
the forefront in Optometry’s battle against myopia progression.
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