Thomas Fuchsluger

Thomas Fuchsluger

Germany
Workshop session/s:

Thomas A. Fuchsluger MD PhD FEBO MSc MHBA is the appointed Full Professor and Chairman at the Department of Ophthalmology, Rostock University Medical Center, Hanseatic City of Rostock, Germany. He is the organizer of the annual Baltic Sea Eye Conference and of the German-Polish Winter Academy. He currently serves as Secretary General of the European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER, 2023-28) and is one of four members of the Executive Board of the Northern German Ophthalmological Society (VNDA e.V.). He serves as Associate Editor for Acta Ophthalmologica and for the Journal of EuCornea and is member of the editorial office of “Die Ophthalmologie”, Springer Medicine Publishers. From 2024 – 27 and from 2019 – 21 he was voted one of six members of the Annual Meeting Program Committee, Cornea Section, Association of Research in Vision & Ophthalmology (ARVO).

Prior to this, he served as Vice Chairman at the Department of Ophthalmology, Heidelberg University (2018-19) and as appointed University Professor for Cornea and the Anterior Ocular Segment at the Department of Ophthalmology, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany (Chair: Prof. Dr. F. Kruse, 2014-18). He was Head of the Erlangen Cornea Bank and Head of the Cornea Laboratory focusing on corneal endothelium and tissue engineering.

He completed his medical education at Ulm University, Germany, after several internships abroad (e.g. Singapore General Hospital, Queen Mary’s Hospital London, University Hospital Buenos Aires) and performed his residency and further ophthalmological training at the Center for Ophthalmology, Essen University Hospital, Germany. In 2006, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Dept. of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine (Chair: Prof. S. Kinoshita). From 2008 until 2010 he performed a postdoctoral fellowship at Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA, working of gene and cell therapy approaches to protect the corneal endothelium (Laboratory Dr. R. Dana). After his return to Germany he accepted a consultant and faculty position at the Dept. of Ophthalmology, Dusseldorf University Hospital (Chair: Prof. Dr. G. Geerling) where he served as Head of the Lions Eye Bank North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2014 he was appointed University Professor at Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Dr. Fuchsluger published in renowned peer-reviewed journals not only in the field of ophthalmology (e.g. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences) but also in gene and cell therapy as well as in biomaterial journals, such as in Human Gene Therapy, Gene Therapy, Nanomedicine, Acta Biomaterialia or Material Science and Engineering. Besides having published review articles, he also was (co-) author in book chapters on corneal transplantation or on biosynthetic corneas (e.g. in Copeland and Afshari’s “Principles and Practice of CORNEA”, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, 2013). He has delivered numerous invited talks and has been recipient of several merit, research or best paper awards (e.g. Young Investigator Merit Award, Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society; Best Paper Award of the European Eye Bank Association).

He served as Section Editor for the British Journal of Ophthalmology (2016-21). In addition, he is reviewer for several research councils, amongst the Medical Research Council (UK), Fight for Sight (UK), DLR (Germany). He performs ad hoc reviewer services for currently 26 peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Fuchsluger was and is the Secretary General (2017-18, 2022-2027) and Vice President Elect (2017-18) of the European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER) after having finished his function as Chair of EVER Section “Cornea and Ocular Surface” (2012-17). Furthermore, he was elected in 2015 as member of the Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC), “Cross-sectional Group Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine” of the Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). For ARVO, he contributed as member of the Members-in-Training Committee (2009-2012) and was appointed as member of the “Publications Committee” (2015-2018). In 2024, he was once again elected by ARVO’s Cornea Section as delegate to the AMPC. In addition, he was recently appointed as responsible person of the Cornea Section, German Ophthalmological Society (DOG), to establish the national guideline on “Management of chemical and thermal burns of the ocular surface“.

Literaturverzeichnis originalarbeiten

DMEK graft preparation techniques – liquid bubble technique compared to Melles technique.
Bodenbender JP, Rickmann A, Wude J, Rohrbach JM, Bartz-Schmidt KU, Thaler S, Bayyoud T. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2026 Apr 14. doi: 10.1007/s00417-026-07238-9.

Preparation of Donor Tissue in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK): Impact of Pseudophacic Donor Status on Clinical Outcomes.
Wolf A, Trouvain AM, Della Volpe Waizel M, Englisch CE, Semoulin C, Boden KT, Seitz B, Fries FN, Rickmann A. Klin Monbl Augenheilkd. 2026 Feb 12. doi: 10.1055/a-2767-6857.

Impact of donor-recipient gender mismatch on outcomes in Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK).
Eckly Z, Trouvain AM, Della Volpe-Waizel M, Englisch CE, Szurman P, Seitz B, Fries F, Rickmann A. Cell Tissue Bank. 2026 Feb 10;27(1):10. doi: 10.1007/s10561-026-10210-w. PMID: 41665739

Survival of Grafts up to 10 years After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Dryander SE, Volpe-Waizel MD, Trouvain AM, Darwisch W, Englisch CE, Menkene LM, Szurman P, Boden K, Seitz B, Fries F, Rickmann A. Cornea. 2025 Nov 5. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000004036.

Impact of Diabetic Donor Grafts in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Matterne L, Trouvain AM, Volpe-Waizel MD, Wolf A, Darwisch W, Wahl S, Szurman P, Seitz B, Fries F, Rickmann A. Cornea. 2025 Sep 3. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000003977

Influence of Graft Donor Age in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Wolf A, Della Volpe Waizel M, Darwisch W, Trouvain AM, Boden KT, Seitz B, Fries FN, Rickmann A. Cornea. 2025 Jun 3. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000003906.
IF: 2.1

Clinical Outcome of Endothelium-Outward Preloaded Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty in Long-Term Dextran-Containing Transport Medium Preservation.
Rickmann A, Wahl S, Messias A, Trouvain AM, Roberts PK, Boden KT, Szurman P. Cornea. 2025 Jan 21. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000003817.
IF: 2.1

Prevalence and Severity of Corneal Guttata After Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Rickmann A, Darwisch W, Menkene LM, Wahl S, Szurman P, Thaler S, Bodenbender JP, Seitz B, Roberts PK. Cornea. 2024 Dec 10. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000003772.
IF: 2.1

Clinical results after single asymmetrical shark fin for graft orientation in DMEK.
Rickmann A, Boden K, Trouvain AM, Müller LJ, Bocqué C, Thaler S, Szurman P. Int Ophthalmol. 2022 Apr;42(4):1061-1068. doi: 10.1007/s10792-021-02091-7.
IF: 1.4

Comparison of clinical outcomes after precut DMEK with or without dextran-containing medium compared to standard DMEK: a prospective pilot study.
Rickmann A, Boden K, Wahl S, Trouvain A, Schulz A, Szurman P. Int Ophthalmol. 2022 Feb;42(2):401-409. doi: 10.1007/s10792-021-02056-w.
IF: 1.4

Liquid bubble dissection technique assures rapid and safe DMEK lamella preparation.
Trouvain AM, Szurman P, Bocqué C, Rickmann A. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2021 Nov;259(11):3519-3520. doi: 10.1007/s00417-021-05299-6.
IF: 2.3

Cleavage plane after liquid-bubble preparation of Descemet’s membrane.
Rickmann A, Wahl S, Katsen-Globa A, Schulz A, Pütz N, Szurman P. Acta Ophthalmol. 2021 Sep;99(6):e937-e942. doi: 10.1111/aos.14716.
IF: 2.8

Comparison of preloaded grafts for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) in a novel preloaded transport cartridge compared to conventional precut grafts.
Rickmann A, Wahl S, Hofmann N, Knakowski J, Haus A, Börgel M, Szurman P. Cell Tissue Bank. 2020 Jun;21(2):205-213. doi: 10.1007/s10561-020-09814-7.
IF: 2.0

Analysis of different types of anesthesia in descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty.
Rickmann A, Andres C, Boden K, Wahl S, Szurman P. Int Ophthalmol. 2020 Mar;40(3):541-545. doi: 10.1007/s10792-019-01210-9.
IF: 1.4

Significant differences between specular microscopy and corneal bank endothelial cell counts – a pilot study.
Rickmann A, Boden KE, Wahl S, Jung S, Boden KT, Szurman P, Januschowski K. Acta Ophthalmol. 2019 Dec;97(8):e1077-e1081. doi: 10.1111/aos.14185.
IF: 2.8

Safety analysis and results of a borosilicate glass cartridge for no-touch graft loading and injection in Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty.
Rickmann A, Wahl S, Katsen-Globa A, Szurman P. Int Ophthalmol. 2019 Oct;39(10):2295-2301. doi: 10.1007/s10792-018-01067-4.
IF: 1.4

Precut DMEK Using Dextran-Containing Storage Medium Is Equivalent to Conventional DMEK: A Prospective Pilot Study.
Rickmann A, Wahl S, Hofmann N, Haus A, Michaelis R, Petrich T, Blomberg L, Börgel M, Jung S, Szurman P. Cornea. 2019 Jan;38(1):24-29. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000001778.
IF: 2.1

Impact of 10% SF6 Gas Compared to 100% Air Tamponade in Descemet’s Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Rickmann A, Szurman P, Jung S, Boden KT, Wahl S, Haus A, Boden K, Januschowski K. Curr Eye Res. 2018 Apr;43(4):482-486. doi: 10.1080/02713683.2018.1431286.
IF: 2.0

Clinical Comparison of Two Methods of Graft Preparation in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.
Rickmann A, Opitz N, Szurman P, Boden KT, Jung S, Wahl S, Haus A, Damm LJ, Januschowski K. Curr Eye Res. 2018 Jan;43(1):12-17. doi: 10.1080/02713683.2017.1368086.
IF: 2.0

Novel liquid bubble dissection technique for DMEK lenticule preparation.
Szurman P, Januschowski K, Rickmann A, Damm LJ, Boden KT, Opitz N. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2016 Sep;254(9):1819-23. doi: 10.1007/s00417-016-3377-z.
IF: 2.3