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The International AMD Genomics Consortium study: another success in understanding the complex genetics of AMD

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a neurodegenerative complex disease of the eye and a major cause of blindness and visual impairment among the elderly worldwide. The early stages of the disease are characterised by asymptomatic pigmentary abnormalities and accumulation of...

Ophthalmology in ancient india, Sushruta’s time and the modern era

While reading an article related to the history of Indian ophthalmology, I came across this description of a surgical procedure: “The doctor warmed the patient’s eye with the breath of his mouth. He rubbed the closed eye of the patient...

Coming to terms with AI

A machine might be called intelligent if its response to questions could convince a person that it was human, a test proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 [1]. The author considers potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) using machine learning...

Designing ophthalmology services - Part 1: How do we address the queues in a clinic?

This first of a three-part series shows how systems engineering can be used to correctly diagnose and address the causes of delays in a clinic. The second article, which will be featured in the April/May 2020 issue, describes how to...

Periocular burns: a literature review of classification, management protocols and outcomes of treatment

The author provides a review of the current literature regarding the principles of classification, management protocols of acute ocular and periocular burns and the role of the burn and oculoplastic surgeon involved in their care. More than two-thirds of facial...

Viva Las Vegas: Dr Corey Hochman

Speaking with Phoenix-based ophthalmologist and poker player, Dr Corey Hochman, Peter Cackett explores the themes of success and failure, and how the ups and downs of one’s ambition can provide an overwhelming gratitude for life. “Money won is twice as...

Therapy for limbal stem cell deficiency: cell fate after limbal stem cell transplants

“The beauty of scientific research lies in that the search for answers often yields yet more questions.” A large body of evidence points to the corneoscleral limbal location as the repository of putative epithelial stem cells [1]. Thoft proposed the...

Shifting the paradigm of managing patients in medical retina: how real-world data can help us to improve clinical practice

The ophthalmic subspecialty of ‘medical retina’ has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. With the introduction of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Novartis), a specialty formerly dominated by laser-based therapies has been transformed to become, in large part, pharmacotherapy-based. To date, these pharmacotherapies...

Through the bubble: A patient’s perspective on macula hole surgery pre- and postoperatively

The evolution of ophthalmic surgical practice over the past seven decades has been extraordinary. Within this period, the first vitrectomy was performed, establishing a foundation for what is now an operation performed thousands of times per year in the UK...

Ophthalmic entrepreneurship: Reflections from an ophthalmic surgeon

For many ophthalmic trainees and newly appointed consultants, the idea of medical entrepreneurship can feel distant and sometimes uncomfortable. We are trained in a profession centred on patient care, ethics and service. The word entrepreneur, by contrast, often brings to...