EyeCon 2025: Adopting an interventional glaucoma mindset with Oluwatosin U. Smith, MD

At this year’s EyeCon meeting, Oluwatosin U. Smith, MD, of the Glaucoma Associates of Texas, reflected on her dual role—both as an educator and a leader in its development—while delivering a focused presentation on the current state of glaucoma care. Smith has been closely tied to EyeCon since its inception, serving as co-chair and most recently on the educational committee. “It has been really exciting being, first of all, one of the co-chairs of this EyeCon meeting from the inception and now being on the educational committee and to see how the meeting has evolved over the last 4 years,” she said. The Ophthalmology Times and Optometry Times EyeCon 2025 conference is taking place September 26 and 27 at the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida.

Her presentation centered on the evolution of interventional glaucoma (IG) and how ophthalmologists are reassessing established care pathways in light of new devices and treatment paradigms. “I think that's the phase we're in now in glaucoma care,” she explained. “Having had about 15 years of introduction of multiple new devices, new technology, but we're now reevaluating the way we take care of patients and trying to take all of this new technology and surgical options that we have and incorporating it into our patient care.”

A major theme was the shift in mindset required to integrate these advances into daily practice. Smith noted, “We're being able to talk to each other, our colleagues, about changing in our mindset and how we've cared for patients over the last 30 to 40 years, so that, for me, I think was a big takeaway.”

Her session addressed the spectrum of glaucoma interventions, beginning with medical therapy and moving through laser and surgical options. “We spend time talking about medications and their place in glaucoma care. We then spend time talking about laser trabeculoplasty and other types of lasers,” she said. Of particular focus was the LiGHT trial and its impact on practice: “More so speaking about the LiGHT trial and how now SLT has become more forefront in how we care for patients first line in glaucoma treatment.”

Smith acknowledged the rapidly expanding surgical landscape. “Every day in glaucoma we seem to have a new option. Newer options and some things in the pipeline now for treating glaucoma surgically.” These advances, she emphasized, require ongoing dialogue among ophthalmologists to determine how best to apply them to patient populations with varying disease severities and risk factors.

The interactive nature of the session was notable, with significant discussion from attendees. “Altogether I think we had a good meeting, a good robust discussion with discussion from the audience, questions from the audience about how to adopt an IG mentality.” Practical issues such as practice integration and co-management also surfaced. “We talked about how to be able to change practice to doing lasers first and also how to co-manage patients, because we had a mixed audience here—what an ophthalmologist would like to receive from their optometry colleagues and the expectations when we send patients back, whether to manage in postop care or to follow as patients have an SLT.”

Closing her remarks, Smith expressed optimism for the impact of these conversations: “I'm excited to see what all these people will do with the information that they have gained from EyeCon.”