Trainees archive for 2015
The embryology of the eye
Nobody claims to like embryology. At least nobody I know. It has been a neglected part of the curriculum since time immemorial and a vicious cycle occurs in which those with an incomplete understanding fail to appreciate the inherent beauty...
Principles of contact lens fitting in keratoconus
Keratoconus is an ectatic condition of the cornea characterised by progressive conical distortion with irregular astigmatism, myopia and apical protrusion. Most cases progress slowly resulting in varying degrees of myopic astigmatism. Management of keratoconus includes spectacles, soft contact lenses, a...
The assessment of pupils and pupillary reactions
Understanding pupillary reactions is vital in understanding basic neuro-opthalmology. It is a skill required in eye casualty, clinics and perhaps most importantly, exams. To start at the beginning, the pupil is the central aperture of the iris, its size controlling...
Preventing refractive surprises by real time biometry during cataract surgery
A few months ago a retired lady presented for second eye cataract surgery. I noted on the pre-op ward round that the outcome of her first eye’s surgery looked like a refractive surprise as her spherical equivalent in that eye...
White dot syndromes
It is fair to say that trainees and consultants who are not medical retina specialists are a bit scared of the so called retinal ‘white dot syndromes’. It is easy to understand why this is the case, as almost every...
Virtual reality for the ophthalmic trainee
If you believe the tech blogs 2015 is the year of virtual reality. Industry experts believe this will be due to the potential commercial release of the poster boy of this new revolution, the Oculus Rift. This is a headset...
On the wrong track
A 65-year-old very high myope lady presented with sudden blurred vision down to count fingers to her right eye after a short and sharp pain. She also described seeing a black swirly line and as all these symptoms were exactly...
Lines, dots, spots and rings in ophthalmology: understanding eponyms
Eponymous names are familiar to all who have undergone undergraduate and postgraduate training in medicine. The ability to name a few allows one to stand out among your peers and rare, or not so rare, eponymous syndromes are a favourite...
Anisometropia following cataract surgery and its non-surgical treatment
The desired result of cataract surgery is improved visual acuity without the use of spectacles. In practice most patients following initial cataract extraction are likely to be symptomatic of anisometropia giving rise to prismatic effects (anisophoria) and unequal retinal image...
The management of retinal vein occlusions: a summary
Retinal vein occlusions (RVO) are the most common cause of visual loss from retinal vascular disease second to diabetic retinopathy. Vision is lost due to ischaemia, macular oedema and / or haemorrhage which ultimately effects a patient’s quality of life...
“I can’t see nothing out of that eye, you ....!”
This is exactly the call you don’t want to receive at 11 at night. The A&E colleague phoned to inform me about a young man who was kicked several times in the face and could not see out of one...
