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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...

Blinded by an Ofsted inspection

Introduction The Association of Health Professions in Ophthalmology (AHPO) is a charity, whose objectives are to promote the practice, education, training and research in ophthalmology and vision science in the UK. The extraordinary developments in diagnostic equipment and technologies have...

A guide to the Multi-Speciality Recruitment Assessment (MSRA) exam

The MSRA exam is a mandatory part of the application for ophthalmology specialist training in the UK. It is a computer-based exam which is designed to assess junior doctors with foundation level competence. It is used for entry to postgraduate...

Is patient masking leading to an increase in post-op infection after eyelid surgery?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of facemasks or face coverings in the clinical setting has become necessary. It is important to recognise that facemasks can be a source of infection after eye surgery and consider ways to minimise...

Breakthroughs in the genetics of angle-closure glaucoma

Angle closure glaucoma (ACG) is not widely known to be a familial condition, yet the recent explosion of genetic data and large scale genome wide investigations have confirmed at least 13 genetic loci associated with ACG [1], and provided some...

A focus on Pakistan’s growing eye care needs: over 43 million patients treated for curable blindness free of charge

With 90% of the world’s visually impaired living in developing countries, Pakistan is no exception to this on-going global healthcare challenge. Despite massive leaps over the last few decades in targeting this issue, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that...

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...

The increased use of surgical adjuncts in complex cataract surgeries undertaken in the COVID-19 pandemic

The authors explore whether more complicated cataract operations have been performed in the NHS since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Restrictions in availability of access to elective cataract surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent case prioritisation based on...