The Clinical Relevance of Precision Tonometry

Professor Robert Stamper of the University of San Francisco, who chaired the session, started with a presentation giving some background information on tonometry and its recent innovations. His conclusion was that IOP correction nomograms for CCT do not work and should not be used in clinical practice. 

Dr. Efstathios Detorakis, of the University of Heraklion, was next and presented his latest findings on topical prostaglandine altering the cellular matrix of the cornea and also changes of corneal integrity induced by trabeculectomy. He showed clearly that both treatments have significant impact on the biomechanics of the cornea and thus have a much higher influence on applanation measurements than they do on PASCAL.

Then it was the turn of Professor Garway Heath, of Moorefields Eye Hospital London, to report that PASCAL is the most repeatable and reproducible tonometer available today. He especially focussed his attention on the ICare Tonometer which, in his opinion, shows an high variability of measurements and, accordingly, should not be used for clinical decision making. In discussion his co-presentors were totally in agreement with this.

The symposium was brought to a successful finish by Dr. Elliot Kirstein reporting that even small incision cataract surgery changes the biomechanics of the cornea during the first weeks after the procedure. These changes often manifest themselves, when measured with GAT, as a seemingly lower IOP. PASCAL DCT on the other hand is not subject to such problems.

For the full program, click here

To download the Power Point Presentations, click here.

In conjunction with the World Glaucoma Congress, Ziemer conducted a PASCAL Breakfastt Symposium entitled "Precision Tonometry". Drs. David Garway-Heath, Tony Realini, Andreas Boehm, Leon Herndon, and Elliot Kirstein discussed recent results obtained with the PASCAL Dynamic Contour Tonometer and presented their views on how the PASCAL compares with other tonometers in terms of accuracy, reliability, and repeatability.

The collected presentations are available for download (pdf, 4MB).

A synposis of the symposium was published as a  Press Release (pdf; 100kB) by our UK distributor, Carleton Ltd.