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Imaging papilloedema vs. pseudo-papilloedema

Quite often, in the working week as an ophthalmic photographer, you will be given that patient with ‘swollen discs’ to image. These swollen discs could be a number of things, but mainly fall into one of two categories: papilloedema or...

How to examine the visual system Part 1: visual acuity, visual fields and eye movements

Asking candidates to perform an examination of the visual system, either as part of a full cranial nerve exam or as an individual entity, is a common station in practical examinations during medical school. It is important to practise for...

My top five: Elective grants for an ophthalmology elective for a medical student surviving in a cost-of-living crisis

In a time where cost of living is significantly increasing, and the student NHS bursary is remaining stagnant, funding a medical elective is becoming increasingly more challenging for medical students. Surveys have shown that medical students typically get two to...

The role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of DMO

Diabetic macular oedema (DMO) is a major cause of visual loss in diabetes, with a complex multifactorial pathogenesis. In the UK alone it is estimated that there are nearly 2.5 million diabetic patients aged over 12 years. Approximately 65,000 of...

Unexpected diagnoses – stroke in children and homonymous hemianopia

We present the case of a 12-year-old child presenting with a few days history of left-sided visual loss. Upon further investigation with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) she was unexpectedly diagnosed with a right-sided chronic posterior cerebral arterial territory infarct, causing...

Do steroids prevent progression to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR)?

There is continuing debate on the merits of pan-retinal photocoagulation (PRP) for severe pre-proliferative and proliferative DR versus the newer therapies that inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This has been hotly debated [1] following the publication of findings from...

Beyond 2020 Episodes 01-03

Introduction Working in remote, Amazonian villages, the Andean Medical Mission (AMM) have made progress into eliminating avoidable blindness in this small corner of the globe and have produced a video series, Beyond 2020, to share what they’ve learned over 12...

Valuable resources for FRCOphth Part 1 exam preparation

The FRCOphth Part 1 exam is a difficult exam with an average pass rate of 46% in the last year. It is a requirement before entry into the third year of ophthalmology specialty training (OST). Passing this exam during foundation...