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Under pressure: a tool to aid the 
non-ophthalmic practitioner in the timely management of acute angle closure

Acute angle closure is a true ophthalmic emergency that mandates timely diagnosis and treatment. The priority in initial management is to lower the intraocular pressure in an expeditious matter using medical treatments. The risk of irreversible glaucomatous optic neuropathy is...

Papilloedema: an update

Some readers may have seen a recent report in the national newspapers of the case of a teenage girl with persistent severe headache associated with a fatal brain tumour having been undiagnosed despite many consultations with her medical advisers. It...

Globes in space: What would happen to our globes on the globe of Mars?

Many films have been made regarding life on alternative planets. With the Mars One mission approaching in 2023, there are high expectations regarding future interplanetary travel. The authors provide an ophthalmology perspective on what could happen to our eyes if...

What to expect when meeting a statistician

There are a growing number of statisticians working closely with ophthalmologists. They have different training but they are driven by the same goal: to perform high quality evidence based clinical research [1,2]. In a perfect world we would simply conduct...

Cataract incidence rates in patients from the UK suffering with diabetes mellitus

The authors summarise the main findings from a recent study which investigated the incidence rates of cataract in patients with or without diabetes mellitus (DM). Background to the study Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 253 million people...

Setting up successful safe & efficient nurse-led intravitreal injection service

In September 2019, we organised a training course at Great Western NHS Hospital (GWH), Swindon, which provided presentations, discussions and hands-on wet lab experience on how to perform intravitreal injection using intravitreal assisted device (INVITRIA) for nurses and doctors from...

The Leicester Grading System for Foveal Hypoplasia

The University of Leicester Ulverscroft Eye Unit have published the first medical grading system named after the city of Leicester. Infantile nystagmus is characterised by constant and involuntary eye movements and affects 24 per 10,000 people [1]. Onset is usually...

Is patient masking leading to an increase in post-op infection after eyelid surgery?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of facemasks or face coverings in the clinical setting has become necessary. It is important to recognise that facemasks can be a source of infection after eye surgery and consider ways to minimise...

Valuable resources for FRCOphth Part 1 exam preparation

The FRCOphth Part 1 exam is a difficult exam with an average pass rate of 46% in the last year. It is a requirement before entry into the third year of ophthalmology specialty training (OST). Passing this exam during foundation...

My Top Five Ophthalmology YouTube channels

In the digital age, medical education is being rapidly updated and transformed with the integration of modern technology. Many enthusiastic educators and learners are exploring novel platforms and formats of medical education. Additionally, there has been an increasing need for...

How to pass the FRCOphth Part 1 as a foundation trainee: some practical tips

Attempting the FRCOphth Part 1 examination as a foundation trainee requires significant time and financial commitment. Unlike the MRCP and MRCS examinations, the curriculum of this exam does not overlap with the undergraduate syllabus. As such, it is a steep...

Exploiting nature’s randomised trials of eye disease

Confounding and reverse causation in observational ophthalmic epidemiology Traditional observational studies are inherently limited in establishing a causal effect of an exposure on an outcome of interest. One fundamental limitation is confounding, whereby causation is incorrectly attributed to a third...