Ophthalmology
The Global Vision Database
The overall goal of the Global Vision Database (GVD) [1] is to develop and deploy new and improved evidence on the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment (VI) globally. It is a repository which allows us to assess the causes...
Initiatives in macular service provision
A report from Monitor in October 2015 identifies good practices that will realise most of the potential productivity gain in elective care available to NHS hospitals. These include: stratifying patients by risk and creating low-complexity pathways for lower-risk patients (tailoring...
Blind Veterans UK calls on eye health professionals to direct blind and vision impaired veterans to vital support
A national charity is asking ophthalmologists and eye health professionals to help them reach out to the tens of thousands of blind and vision impaired ex-service men and women who are currently missing out on vital support to help them...
Pathophysiology of diabetic macular oedema: why combination therapy may be better
The prevalence of diabetes has continued to increase over the years. It is currently estimated that there are 382 million with diabetes worldwide in 2013, and that this figure is expected to rise to 592 million by 2035 [1]. In...
Strategies for managing neovascular AMD and DMO in routine clinical care
Treatment practice in the management of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular oedema (DMO) illustrate increasing adoption of patient-tailored treatment approaches based on initial diagnosis and regular monitoring of imaging and visual outcomes in routine clinical care. The...
Genetic profiling for personalised healthcare solutions in AMD – an update
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial condition influenced by genetics and lifestyle factors (Table 1). This article outlines several recent advances in AMD genetics, as well as evolving therapeutic concepts and established practical measures for the treatment and /...
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...
Open source and tele-manufacturing for ophthalmology
Open source or crowd-sourcing and crowd-collaboration are concepts almost always associated with software and public online projects such as Wiki project. Never had I imagined that my team would apply the same principle in ophthalmology. Just less than a month...
Intravitreal injections delivered by ophthalmic clinical nurse specialists
Intravitreal injections of the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agent ranibizumab, for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was approved by National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) in 2008 [1]. The Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH),...
Refractionist’s shoulder?
After hearing the letter-box, I walked to the front door and stooped down to collect my latest edition of Eye News. I winced. Still, at least it would give me something to pass the time on this, my first day...
Anterior segment imaging: a photographer’s view
My name is Rosalyn Painter and I work within the vision science and ophthalmic imaging team at Bristol Eye Hospital, where we cover all aspects of imaging within the hospital, including fluorescein angiograms, fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), slit-lamp...
What’s next in retinal imaging? Faster, deeper and full-on
Fast-evolving technological leaps are opening the way toward clinically useful ocular coherence angiography, generating 3-dimensional microvasculature maps without intravenous dye injection, as well as whole-eye imaging, handheld patient-operated optical coherence tomography (OCT) devices and, for challenging vitreoretinal procedures, integrated intraoperative...
