The Orbital and Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery Theme Issue

The upcoming December Archives of Ophthalmology and the present issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery are paired theme issues on orbit, eyelid, and lacrimal surgery. The 2 theme issues highlight the value of multidisciplinary collaboration. Fellowships in ophthalmic plastic surgery now routinely include periorbital and facial surgery, and facial plastic surgery fellowships incorporate oculoplastic procedures, so that the opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration have never been more important and promising. In fact, it was not so long ago that the specialties were not separated at all. I trained too late to ever attend a national meeting of the Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (the 2 academies separated in 1978), but I did attend the Pacific Coast Society of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology, and I was impressed with how much I could learn by seeing clinical problems through the eyes of a different specialty. Great advancements (not to mention great collegial friendships) can be made when the ideas of our 2 proud specialties of ophthalmology and otolaryngology–head and neck surgery commingle in our thought processes, grooved (some would say “rutted”) by the long steeping of our separate training, and allow us to arrive at fresh approaches to the clinical problems that overlap our specialties' boundaries.

The articles in the present theme issue highlight the important trend toward less invasive surgery. Likewise, in the December Archives of Ophthalmology, articles explore less invasive options for treatment. There was a time when radical orbital surgery and even exenteration were considered for recurrent or difficult lacrimal tumors. Currie and Rose ^Article present outstanding long-term data demonstrating successful local treatment of pleomorphic adenoma, even in recurrent tumors. Malhotra ^Article presents preliminary experience using injections of hyaluronic acid gel to treat enophthalmos; this concept will have enormous applicability to help patients avoid surgery if additional experience confirms the early reported success. Badilla et al ^Article present a technique to access the venous cavernous sinus through a small incision lateral orbital approach.

Other articles in the Archives of Ophthalmology highlight advances in blepharoptosis, ^{Article - Article} imaging, ^Article Graves orbitopathy, ^Article orbital inflammation, ^{Article - Article} lymphoma, ^{Article - Article} anatomy, ^Article anophthalmic socket, ^Article orbital cerebrospinal fluid leaks, ^Article orbital fungal infections, ^Article and lacrimal outflow surgery. ^Article

Multidisciplinary collaboration between specialties, in my experience, provides enormous opportunities to advance our knowledge individually and as a discipline. The excellent contributions to both Archives journals in these joint theme issues prove my point.

Correspondence: Dr Goldberg, Jules Stein Eye Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, 100 Stein Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (goldberg@jsei.ucla.edu).

Financial Disclosure: None reported.