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Decoding the red eye

Red eye, or hyperaemia, is one of the most common presentations to primary care [1] and the emergency department [2]. However, despite this the underlying cause is often misdiagnosed which can lead to severe, sight-threatening conditions being missed [1]. Thorough...

Eye Capacity: clinical need should drive ophthalmic service provision

Almost two million people in the UK suffer sight loss, a number forecast to double over coming decades. Major causes of blindness are age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataract and uncorrected refractive error. Prevalence of these sight-threatening conditions...

Preoperative povidone iodine: weighing the risks

Following on from our recent online survey, the authors examine the potential risks and benefits of diluting the concentration preoperative povidone iodine. Povidone iodine (PI) is an iodophore that has an established use as a broad-spectrum antiseptic, mainly for the...

Corporate M&A pace gathers momentum

Intensifying franchise competition, maturing product development pipelines and looming loss of exclusivity spur renewed merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the ophthalmics sector. Rod McNeil reviews recent deals and related strategic developments. AbbVie to acquire Allergan in $63 billion mega-combination,...

Assessing everyday visual function in dry AMD – what matters to the person?

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the primary cause of blindness in the developed world and is accountable for more than one half of sight impairment registrations within England and Wales [1]. AMD is prevalent in people aged 60 years and...

Designing ophthalmology services Part 2: How do we address the queues for a clinic?

The first of this three-part series showed how systems engineering can be used to correctly diagnose and address the causes of delays in a clinic. This second article describes how to design a more productive system that meets the new...

Insights on medical AI for ophthalmology: an update on current perspectives

Artificial intelligence (AI) has immense promise for revolutionising medical practice. Generative AI is a form of AI in which algorithms are trained on datasets that can be used to generate new content, such as text, images or video based on...

Acute management of retrobulbar haemorrhage

The authors discuss the importance of rapid diagnosis and correct management of acute RBH presentation to avoid the risk of permanent blindness. Retrobulbar haemorrhage (RBH) is an ocular emergency that occurs due to arterial bleeding in the orbital cavity behind...

A three-way partnership between Nigeria, Tanzania and Northern Ireland

VISION 2020 LINKS between Western Health and Social Care Trust (WHSCT), Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Northern Ireland with first ECWA Eye Hospital, Kano, Nigeria and now also with Mbeya Referral Hospital (MRH), Tanzania, have been beneficial to all three partners. From...

ChatGPT cannot pass FRCOphth examinations: implications for ophthalmology and large language model artificial intelligence

Large language models are generating a lot of hype for artificial intelligence, but can they assist patients and practitioners in ophthalmology? Introduction Deep learning (DL) has emerged in ophthalmology as an exciting form of artificial intelligence (AI) most commonly applied...