Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic disorder worldwide and is associated with lifelong anaemia, intermittent pain and multi-organ morbidity. Ocular involvement can be associated with significant visual impairment due to the complications of proliferative sickle retinopathy (PSR). Occasionally...
It has been 25 years since Huang et al. presented the first optical coherence tomography (OCT) images in Science [1]. With vast improvements in OCT technology over the years, it is now possible to acquire high-resolution cross-sectional images of the...
The ophthalmic subspecialty of ‘medical retina’ has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. With the introduction of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Novartis), a specialty formerly dominated by laser-based therapies has been transformed to become, in large part, pharmacotherapy-based. To date, these pharmacotherapies...
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disorder of the immature preterm retina and a leading cause of preventable, irreversible blindness in children. There are 15 million preterm births annually, and over 32,000 neonates became blind from ROP in 2010 [1]....
Virtual clinics can be used successfully in screening and management of ocular conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and age-related macular degeneration. Virtual clinics should be a considered as a more clinically appropriate modality of consultation, diagnosis and...
Transferring clinical imaging from high street optometrists to secondary care is an increasingly requested option, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A wide variety of solutions exist to allow this, each with their own merits and shortcomings. In...
Moving to an electronic patient record (EPR) is all the rage these days, even in the District General Hospitals (DGHs). When I am not writing these articles I work in one such hospital. At Bolton Foundation Trust we deployed OpenEyes...
A round-up of the eye-related hot topics that have been trending on social media over the last few weeks. #threeblindmice US company Nanoscope Therapeutics has developed a new treatment which is hoped will restore vision in those affected by retinal...
It is always nice to get a thank you card, especially so when it comes from someone at the tail end of an overbooked clinic who had waited patiently well past their appointed slot. Such was the case when I...
Mrs W walked gracefully into my urgent care clinic. It was another busy session and I hoped she did not have anything serious going on which might slow the clinic further. She was an elegant 72-year-old lady who seemed like...
Supercomputer: “The answer to the great question of Life, the Universe and Everything is…”Programmer: “Yes…?”Supercomputer: “42. It was a tough assignment”.Programmer: “42? Is that all you have got to show for seven and a half million years work?” In this...
Simerdip Kaur takes a look at the latest ophthalmology-related news stories and asks which are scientific reality and which are ‘fake news’. Headline: “My cataracts have been dissolved by eye drops!” I’m sure some of us have had patients enquire...