Dr. Alexander C. Rokohl, physician and clinician scientist at the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital Cologne, was awarded the Brewitt Publication Prize at the Congress of the German Academy of Ophthalmology 2022 by the Department of Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Diseases of the Professional Association of Ophthalmologists in Germany. He received the €2,500 award for his paper Dry Anophthalmic Socket Syndrome – Standardized clinical evaluation of symptoms and signs (Ocular Surface, 2020).
In his highly ranked publication, Dr. Alexander C. Rokohl and his mentor, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ludwig M. Heindl, were the first in the world to describe and define a new clinical syndrome, the Dry Anophthalmic Socket Syndrome (DASS). DASS occurs in more than 60% of patients after enucleation or evisceration and reduces the quality of life in these patients significantly. The findings from the work of Dr. Alexander Rokohl are already essential for the management of complications after enucleation or evisceration of an eye. His studies also contributed significantly to the optimization of ocular prosthetic rehabilitation. Based on the findings of these studies, Dr. Alexander C. Rokohl and Prof. Dr. Dr. Ludwig M. Heindl have successfully established the world’s first integrated and interdisciplinary ocular prosthetic consultation at the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital Cologne.
The Brewitt Publication Prize is named after the ophthalmologist Prof. Dr. Horst Brewitt (Hanover), who has drawn attention to the importance of dry eye disease through numerous scientific studies. He headed the department Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Diseases of the Professional Association of Ophthalmologists of Germany e. V. for about 15 years.
