Svjetlost Eye Clinic Publishes the First Croatian Textbook on Refractive Surgery

On 20 November, the first day of the 16th Congress of the Croatian Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery (CSCRS), “New Trends in Ophthalmology”, Svjetlost Eye Clinic will publish the textbook Refrakcijska kirurgija (Refractive Surgery). It is the first comprehensive work on this field of ophthalmology in the Croatian language, and it will be available in Školska knjiga bookshops.

The book is edited by Prof. Nikica Gabrić, MD, PhD, founder and director of Svjetlost Eye Clinic, Prof. Maja Bohač, MD, PhD, Ivan Gabrić, MD, Krešimir Gabrić, MD, and their associates. Its chapters were written by fifteen surgeons and ophthalmologists who perform the procedures they describe in their everyday practice.

From the First Examination to Complications

Across almost 450 pages and 26 chapters divided into seven parts, the book follows the entire journey of the refractive patient. It begins with screening and corneal diagnostics, continues with laser surgery and lenticular procedures, and then covers phakic and premium intraocular lenses, the surgical treatment of presbyopia, keratoconus and complications.

Dedicated chapters look at methods that have been abandoned and at what their failure has taught the profession. Others cover the retinal, oculoplastic and immunological aspects that often determine the success of a procedure. Each chapter includes learning outcomes, a clinical algorithm, the most common mistakes, a level-of-evidence rating and key messages. The text is accompanied by 107 figures, 28 tables and 1,384 references.

“A good refractive surgeon is not recognised by knowing how to perform a procedure, but by knowing whom to perform it on, whom not to, and why,” writes Prof. Nikica Gabrić in the foreword. “This book is dedicated to everyone who is just entering the world of refractive surgery. May it be for them what I lacked at the start of my own journey: a reliable guide in their own language.”

Three Decades of Experience in One Book

The textbook brings together almost three decades of experience at Svjetlost Eye Clinic, which acquired the first excimer laser in Croatia in 1998. Since then, the clinic has introduced a number of new refractive surgery methods in the region and in Europe, and today it helps shape global trends.

The book is intended for medical students, ophthalmology residents and specialists, as well as for all physicians who want to understand what refractive surgery can do for their patients today.

The reviewers are Prof. Ljubo Znaor, MD, PhD, Assist. Prof. Sanja Masnec, MD, PhD, and Assist. Prof. Ivan Škegro, MD, PhD. “Refractive surgery is not a matter of aesthetics, but of freedom,” wrote Assist. Prof. Škegro in his review.

Authors: Prof. Nikica Gabrić, MD, PhD; Prof. Maja Bohač, MD, PhD; Ivan Gabrić, MD; Assist. Prof. Alma Biščević, MD, PhD; Mateja Jagić, MD, PhD; Primarius Assist. Prof. Melisa Ahmedbegović Pjano, MD, PhD; Ajla Skopljak-Salkica, MD; Doria Gabrić, MD; Assist. Prof. Adis Pašalić, MD, PhD; Ivana Gabrić, MD, FEBO; Prof. Ivana Mravičić, MD, PhD; Prof. Ratimir Lazić, MD, PhD; Prof. Nataša Drača, MD, PhD; Krešimir Gabrić, MD; and Ante Barišić, MD, PhD.