It was a big success for the Italian University since two important achievements were achieved during the congress held in Lisbon:  

• Professor Rossella Nappi, local representative of EC2U Working package 4, has been elected President of the IMS and she is going to be the younger president since its foundation in 1978: congrats ! She will cover this position while teaching classes at the University of Pavia, including in the EC2U LIFELINE Joint master’s degree, and managing the UOSD Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2 – PMA of IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico S. Matteo, at Pavia’s hospital.

• Pavia’s university team, formed by doctors specialised in the gynaecology, won the second prize for the best poster of the congress. The poster topic was the “dry eye disease in a clinical sample of women with menopausal symptoms” that has been proved to be an important diagnostic tool and an indicator of the patient’s physio-psychological well-being.  

Below a brief description of the studies behind the poster that Lara Tiranini, one of the winners, descibed during the interview: 

“Dry eye disease represents a group of ocular symptoms, including dryness, burning and itching, which predominantly affect women as they age, with a potential negative impact on quality of life.

Our group recently conducted an observational study involving 85 women referred to the Menopause Clinic at our University Hospital, with the aim to investigate the prevalence of dry eye disease through a validated questionnaire (Ocular Surface Disease Index) and possible clinical correlations.

We found that menopausal women commonly reported symptoms of dry eye disease, especially if they do not take hormone therapy or have an underlying autoimmune condition. Dry eye diseases was diagnosed in about 1 out of 4 women in our sample (25,9%) and most common complaints were sensitivity to light (57,6%), gritty sensation (45,9%) and blurred vision (44,7%) . Interestingly, women with dry eye symptoms, compared to women without, reported also poorer psychosexual wellbeing, with more vitality loss, reduced ‘pleasure of living’, increased sexual pain due to lack of lubrication and decrease frequency of sexual contacts.

That being so, our results support that women should be regularly screened at midlife for dry eye disease symptoms as part of a comprehensive assessment to promote a healthy and successful ageing. In addition, endocrine changes associated with menopause affect specific dimensions of well-being that deserve further investigation.”