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A missed intraocular telescope – an opportunity to re-focus the evidence

Intraocular telescopes allow magnification of the image so that it would be projected into a larger area of the macula, this makes the central defect caused by dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) smaller. The most common approach is a Galilean...

The ocular manifestations of COVID-19: an overview of current literature

Although respiratory symptoms are the most frequent manifestation of COVID-19, multi-organ involvement has been demonstrated, including ocular manifestations. The author investigates how the eye can be affected. The SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a significant public...

Visual disturbance heralding stroke: are we seeing the signs in time?

Isolated visual symptoms may be an early presenting feature of stroke, and timely recognition of such atypical cases is important because treatment for stroke has a limited time-window of efficacy. Stroke occurs in approximately 150,000 people per year in the...

Headache: the clue is in the eyes

A worrying cause of headache is raised intracranial pressure (ICP). Papilloedema is a vital clue for accurate diagnosis and performing fundoscopy is essential in detecting this sign. The authors review the use of fundoscopy in their own district general hospital....

Doing a systematic review: a users’ guide for foundation doctors

Research is increasingly important for junior doctors and systematic reviews (SRs) are a great place to start. Carrying out an SR can help a doctor demonstrate commitment to a specialty, develop research skills and get results quickly. This article aims...

How to get the most out of your ophthalmology elective

If you are in your penultimate year (or even earlier) and have already decided that you want to do ophthalmology, good for you! Ophthalmology is one of the most competitive specialties, and one of the easiest ways to demonstrate your...

Ophthalmology history and examination – a guide for medical students

*First author Students have very little exposure to ophthalmology during their years at medical school. Teaching consists of a handful of lectures followed by a short placement in which students are expected to practise histories and examinations on patients with...

Evolving towards an interventional glaucoma mindset

Traditionally, a newly diagnosed glaucoma patient would be treated first with medical therapy. As the disease progressed or the initial intervention failed to adequately control intraocular pressure (IOP), clinicians would add more drops, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), repeated SLT and...

The Escape Room and gamification of ophthalmology teaching

Recently, there has been an interesting development in medical education and its ‘gamification’. Educators are constantly looking for new ways to engage their students by adding a friendly element of competition, as evidenced by the great success of online education...

Imaging papilloedema vs. pseudo-papilloedema

Quite often, in the working week as an ophthalmic photographer, you will be given that patient with ‘swollen discs’ to image. These swollen discs could be a number of things, but mainly fall into one of two categories: papilloedema or...

Screening for Sickle Cell Retinopathy (SCR): Why we do wide-field imaging, OCT/OCT-A for SCR – Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

I have been working in ophthalmology for over five years as a photographer and research co-ordinator, and it is fascinating, rewarding, and interesting to learn all about the different diseases associated with the eye. One condition that has been a...

The extended role of the specialist ophthalmic photographer

The prevalence of certain retinal conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is projected to grow substantially over the next decades. Estimates for the projected growth in burden on eye services for diabetic retinopathy and neovascular ARMD...