UPFRONT

Special Issue Continues Tradition of Quality

JASON S. SLAKTER, MD

When the management team of Retinal Physician approached me in the middle of 2006 and suggested that we expand to 9 issues per year beginning in 2007, my first thought was, "Will we have enough to fill the pages?" Well, the answer is a resounding YES. In fact, there is so much going on in our field that we were easily able to fill this special issue of Retinal Physician, which is so generously sponsored by Allergan.

In this issue, we are pleased to provide a variety of feature articles, including our cover story on the role of inflammation in age-related macular degeneration, a well-written and highly informative piece. We also provide information on new diagnostic imaging and an evaluation of potential combination therapy approaches. Included in these pages is a continuing medical education section that discusses new concepts in drug delivery — an appropriate and timely topic, as we move into an era of long-term therapy with some of the pharmaceutical agents that we are using or will use in the future.

We are also pleased to be able to provide coverage from The Retinal Physician Symposium earlier this year and more recently from The Retina Society's 40th anniversary meeting held in Boston in honor of Charles Schepens, a true pioneer in our subspecialty. I think you will find this selected group of papers to be representative of the quality and diversity of the research and clinical studies going on in our field today. Finally, we offer an interview with Daniel Martin, MD, and an update on the CATT trial, the NEI-sponsored trial comparing Lucentis with Avastin, the result of which we very anxiously await.

EVER-CHANGING SUBSPECIALTY

Without question, retina as a subspecialty continues to expand and evolve at an ever-increasing rate. The team at Retinal Physician continues to strive to provide you with the latest information of this ever-changing landscape. On behalf of the entire management, editorial staff, and the editorial board, I want to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season and a prosperous new year.