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My top five: Emerging alternatives to manage and treat nAMD

Wet (exudative or neovascular) age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is characterised by choroidal neovascularisation, in which new blood vessels from the choroid invade through Bruch’s membrane. These blood vessels proliferate beneath or through the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), causing patients to...

Mindfulness and cataract surgery experience in ophthalmology doctors in training

Mindfulness can be described as the state in which one is to be fully present in the moment, which draws parallels with surgery. The origins of mindfulness stem from ancient Buddhist traditions, and its utilisation in recent times in the...

A semi-automated algorithm for identifying glaucoma patients with blindness

Patients with sight impairment (previously referred to as partial sightedness) or severe sight impairment (previously referred to as blindness) are eligible for a certificate of visual impairment (CVI). Certification confers eligibility for a wide range of benefits administered by local...

Audiology and ophthalmology: A comparative perspective on diagnostics and patient care

I’m here with Chris Gordon and Anthony Vukic from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to find out how two professions that may appear unrelated on the surface actually have a lot in common. Some of this article might surprise you....

Building capacity for diabetic retinopathy services in Malawi

Screening for diabetic retinopathy prevents blindness. There is no systematic screening programme for diabetic eye disease in Malawi and people present when they have lost vision and it is too late for treatment. The aim of the VISION 2020 LINK...

Uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumour. However, they are still rare, with an incidence of 2-8 per million [1]. The presence of a choroidal naevus is a risk factor for uveal melanoma [1]. Patients with choroidal lesions...

How effective is nurse-led telephone preassessment for cataract surgery?

Cataract surgery is the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the UK [1]. The demand for cataract surgery is projected to increase with ageing population, and the recent pandemic has further contributed to the extended waiting times in the UK....

Retinoblastoma – the challenges of a rare cancer and the role of international partnerships

Introduction: the global challenge The global burden of retinoblastoma (Rb) is one in 15,000-18,000 live births, which equates to 8000 new cases worldwide each year. The global disparities in Rb outcome represent a paradigm of health inequality worldwide [1]. In...

Mucormycosis: In conversation with Dr Deepak Haldipur and Dr Aditya Moorthy

COVID-19 has ravaged the world in the past 18 months. The second wave in many countries was deadlier than the first. Mucormycosis, infamously labelled ‘the black fungus’ has affected some countries, such as India, in epidemic proportions within this COVID...

The lived experience of benign essential blepharospasm

Benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) is a rare neurological condition which causes involuntary sustained or intermittent muscular contraction of both eyelids and upper facial muscles which cause closure of eyelids, abnormal facial expressions and distress [1]. The term dystonia is an...