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Thyroid eye disease

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is an autoimmune condition with a spectrum of signs and symptoms, usually associated with Graves’ hyperthyroidism. The diagnosis is based on history and physical examination but there are further investigations that can aid diagnosis if unclear....

Ophthalmology clinical teaching and research fellowships: a pathway into ophthalmology specialty training

Ophthalmology is known for being one of the most competitive medical specialties in the UK, with 6.8 applicants per post in 2021. In fact, the competition ratio has drastically increased in recent years, rising from 5.73 in 2020 and 3.24...

Post-stroke visual impairment: how big is the problem, how do we identify it, what we can do about it, and why does it matter?

In the UK, 100,000 new strokes occur each year, with 1.3 million stroke survivors [1]. This article will focus on post-stroke visual impairment, discussing topics of how common it is, how it can be detected, possible management options and how...

Corneal transplantation in the United Kingdom: are we blind to the challenges that still exist after the Organ Donation Bill?

Corneal transplantation (CT) is a significant treatment option for a huge number of patients in the United Kingdom (UK) [1]. For an individual, CT results in a substantial improvement in quality of life. Penetrating keratoplasty with full thickness grafting has...

My Top Five: Foundation year 3 jobs for prospective ophthalmology candidates

Ophthalmology specialist training (OST) is a fantastic career option, however, it is also a highly competitive specialty. There was a gradual rise in competition ratios in recent years: 3.24 (2019), 5.73 (2020), and 6.80 (2021) [1]. Many choose to pursue...

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus: a clinician’s perspective

Introduction Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, is caused by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV). The term herpes is derived from a Greek work, herpein, which means ‘creeping’ and the word zoster means a belt or a girdle...

Investigating the link between corneal clarity and statin use

Transparency is a vital attribute of the cornea, necessary in preserving healthy vision. Maintaining this requires the collective input of the various layers of the cornea. Mostly, the layers implicated in this are the corneal stroma and endothelium [1]. Our...

Strabismus and ocular motility, demystified

I am a former orthoptist, now trained in medicine and working as a foundation doctor. In my previous work, I was frequently approached by ophthalmology trainees eager for guidance with strabismus and ocular motility. Drawing on my clinical experience, I...

Planes, trams, and auditoriums: Beware predatory conferencing

Predatory open-access journals and predatory conferences are considered the two main areas of predatory infiltration in academic medicine that are of growing concern [1–7]. Unsolicited publishing requests from potentially predatory publishers occur frequently among faculty in ophthalmology [8]. Predatory conferencing...

The Story of Looking: Mark Cousins

Lake, Sweden, as featured in The Story Of Looking. In an interview with Director Mark Cousins about his relationship with sight and storytelling, Peter Cackett discusses Cousins’ recent film, The Story of Looking, and how its production informed, and was...

A comparison of light sources in retinal imaging

Before starting to talk about the light sources present in retinal imaging, it is necessary to start from the base: the light. Light is an electromagnetic wave whose smallest part is the photon (or quantum of light). A high frequency...