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WGA Consensus Series
Robert N. Weinreb
Introduction
The Glaucoma Consensus Initiative of the World Glaucoma Association is based on the idea that the collective wisdom of a group is better than the opinion of a single expert. Assembling a sufficiently large and sufficiently diverse group of glaucoma specialists and scientists provides recommendations and insights that are likely to be superior to those of a single clinician. These recommendations and insights form the foundation for the Glaucoma Consensus Reports.
To prepare each of the consensus reports, there were several months of active discussion via the Internet by more than 100 expert members of the various consensus committees. The preliminary documents were circulated to each of the more than 70 member societies of the World Glaucoma Association, and additional comments were solicited. Participants were asked to review the international peer-reviewed literature, with special attention to the quality of available evidence. A Consensus Meeting attended by the experts and society representatives was then conducted. Consensus points were formulated and the report revised by the Consensus Panel following these discussions.
The clinic acumen and knowledge of numerous and diverse practitioners and scientists can be harnessed more efficiently and effectively than ever with the contemporary inter-connected global communication. We can learn from each other by sharing, adapting and updating new information, and agreeing on the significance of the information. Linking networks of glaucoma specialists has tangible and ongoing important implications for glaucoma research, glaucoma clinical care and glaucoma education on a global basis.
Consensus 1
Glaucoma Diagnosis: Structure and Function
edited by: R.N. Weinreb and E.L. Greve
2004
To the best of our knowledge, the first Global WGA Consensus Meeting on ‘Structure and Function in the Management of Glaucoma’, held in La Jolla in November, 2003, was also the first global consensus meeting in ophthalmology. The goal was to reach an evidence-based consensus for both clinical practice and research through the use of information obtained from peer-reviewed literature describing functional and structural diagnostic testing in glaucoma. While many of the resulting consensus statements are enduring, some of the tools for clinical practice have changed.
Consensus 2
Glaucoma Surgery: Open Angle Glaucoma
edited by: R.N. Weinreb and J.G. Crowston
2005
The second Consensus Book provides valuable guidelines for surgical management and has highlighted areas where scientific evidence at present was lacking in 2005. There had been considerable interest in new surgical treatments for open angle glaucoma and some had rapidly gained acceptance in clinical practice. Although some of these modalities were promising, one always should be mindful of the need to appraise all new surgical treatments with similar rigor to that demanded of new medical treatments. This consensus in glaucoma surgery for open angle glaucoma provided valuable guidelines for surgical management and highlighted areas where scientific evidence was lacking.
Through the courtesy of the WGA and Kugler Publications, you may now download the PDF files of Consensus 1-5 WGA#One account.
Robert N. Weinreb, MD
Consensus Initiative Chair
World Glaucoma Association
