TFOS imagery used to launch TFOS DEWS II

Following the success of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface’s (TFOS’) most recent Lifestyle Workshop and its larger predecessor, the TFOS second Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS II), TFOS has now unveiled details of its highly anticipated third workshop.

Since the publication of the TFOS DEWS II 400-page report, which involved more than 150 experts from 23 countries and took almost 2.5 years to complete, more than 8,000 peer-reviewed articles have been published about dry eye disease, said Amy Gallant Sullivan, TFOS executive director, in a statement announcing TFOS DEWS III. “Given this extraordinary amount of research over the past seven years, we have decided to update TFOS DEWS II and focus on new and significant advances in the diagnosis, management and classification of dry eye disease.”

Auckland-based Professor Jennifer Craig, chair of the Lifestyle Workshop and vice-chair of DEWS II, said the next workshop will focus on providing evidence-based updates on the diagnosis and management of dry eye disease. “When the volume of publications on a relevant clinical topic such as dry eye reaches a critical mass, it’s important to consolidate that information, to provide researchers and clinicians with a balanced review of the latest scientific evidence and offer evidence-based recommendations to support the management of those affected by dry eye in clinical practice.”

Prof Craig welcomed the new workshop, saying it’s definitely time for an update. “It’s always exciting to see the outcomes when some of the greatest minds in this field get together to reach consensus on the findings reported in hundreds of published articles. It allows advances in the field to be summarised and remaining gaps in knowledge to be identified, to help guide future research.”

Key figures involved in DEWS III include: Professors Victor Perez Quinones (USA; chair), Lyndon Jones (Canada; vice-chair) and James Wolffsohn (UK; vice-chair) and Associate Professor David Sullivan (USA; organiser). The process for DEWS III is well underway, said Prof Craig, with the first presentation and initial outcomes expected at the upcoming TFOS conference in Venice, Italy, from 30 October to 2 November.