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How to consent patients

I attended a morning seminar at the recent College Congress in Liverpool about how to properly and legally consent a patient for a procedure. There has been a lot of interest in this of late following the Montgomery ruling, in...

Birdshot chorioretinopathy: an important differential

Birdshot chorioretinopathy (BSCR) is a relatively uncommon cause of posterior uveitis which often has a relapsing and remitting course [1,2]. We present a case which demonstrates how remission can be obtained for several years using cyclosporine. Case report A 44-year-old...

How to write and publish a case report – tips and common pitfalls

Ophthalmology is an extremely popular specialty, with the competition ratio at ST1 level entry being 10:1 in 2023 [1]. Consequently, applicants are required to achieve higher portfolio scores to remain competitive. For those considering a career in ophthalmology, two points...

Is it NAION… Now what?

Case presentation We present the case and discussion of a 46-year-old Caucasian male who complained of immediate reduced vision following complicated neck dissection including a total laryngopharyngectomy, free flap reconstruction for a T4N3 squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the left...

Sexually transmitted conjunctivitis – the REALLY sticky eye

Let’s face it, patients with conjunctivitis don’t always produce the most stimulating consultations and most of the time we can manage them in auto-pilot. The prospect of delving into such a patient’s sexual history is not overly appealing, but this...

The power of the full blood count

Vishal Shah walks us through his thought process whilst highlighting the importance of routine investigations when dealing with unusual retinovascular presentations. Retinal changes can arise in anaemia, leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic syndrome. They are often the first manifestation of...

Toxic nutritional optic neuropathy (TON)

Toxic optic neuropathy are a group of conditions manifested by reduction of visual functions secondary to damage to the anterior visual pathways from exposure to a toxin. The implicated toxin could be work-based, food or drink related, or iatrogenic medication....

The blue-light hazard – is it true?

Simerdip Kaur takes a look at the latest ophthalmology-related news stories and asks which are based on facts and which are ‘fake news’. Headline: The blue-light hazard – is it true? Blue light is part of the visible optical spectrum...

Disseminated cutaneous zoster – a masquerade

Reactivation of varicella zoster infection in the elderly commonly presents to ophthalmologists as herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO), affecting the Va trigeminal dermatome. In patients with impaired immunity, zoster infection occurs with increased severity and may be complicated by visceral and...