1. Blog 3 May 2020 17 min read

    25 Basic Questions from Residents To The Academic Directors Of Three Premier Eye Care Institutes In India

    Residency in ophthalmology is getting tougher by the day. During the tenure of residency, one is filled with innumerable questions which they feel someone could help them with. This collated questionnaire is an effort in that front. It has a few relevant and common questions which a resident in ophthalmology faces every day. And who better than the heads of education of the top three ophthalmology institutes of the country to answer these questions. We have the three doyens of academics answering and guiding the basic queries during residency program. Dr. Venkatesh Prajna (DR NPV) began his career from Cornea department in 1993. He is the Chief of Medical Education of Aravind Eye Hospital & Post Graduate Institute Of Ophthalmology. Dr.N.V Prajna holds his DNB from National Board and has been awarded an honorary FRCS, Glasgow. Dr. Avinash Pathengay (Dr.AP) graduated from Stanley Medical College and went on to pursue his ophthalmology residency at Madras Medical College, following which

  2. Blog 3 May 2020 5 min read

    Tips to prepare for the DNB, Ophthalmology Examination

    eOphtha: Congrats Sabyasachi!! What is the secret of your success? Sabyasachi: Thank you very much for those kind words. I am humbled. There is no magic formula for success but a combination of hard work, perseverance and a little bit of luck does the trick. eOphtha: How should one proceed to prepare for the DNB, Ophthalmology exam? Sabyasachi: The approach to preparing for any examination must be simplistic i.e. what to read and where to read it from and finally How to read everything in a short time. These are the 3 core ingredients that, if planned and executed well, can bring success. eOphtha: Can you give us a brief idea into these ingredients? Sabyasachi: The most important consideration is where to read topics. I will give a brief outline of this. It will help students to use these resources and not only expand their knowledge base but also help them apply this to clinical scenarios and thereby improve patient care. There are basically 3 sources of reading: Conventional text Boo

  3. Blog 27 Apr 2020 11 min read

    Life Lessons from Lock-down Diary of a Doctor Couple

    The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest challenge the world has faced since the Second World War. The new historical divide will be termed as B.C. (Before Corona) and A.C. (After Corona). There are uncertainties and lots of questions about the future of almost every domain including health, practice pattern, and career in medicine. It will take several months or even years for all of us to recover from the setback caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is always light after the dark. We, ophthalmologists, have witnessed it during our professional life several times while restoring the sight of our blind patients. The after COVID-19 era will put hygiene, health, hospitals, and the healthcare industry in focus. We will be witnessing several necessary changes in the near future with the more global focus on health, health education and increased awareness among public for sanitation, hygiene, healthy lifestyle as well as an increasing trend of digital-health (virtual consultation) and teleme

  4. Blog 23 Apr 2020 5 min read

    What Does an Average Ophthalmologist Do During the COVID Lockdown?

    A short and sweet answer to the above question is: “How would I know?” I am not average – I am above average, just like my readers. Let us just proceed with my occasionally incoherent ramblings and disregard the irrelevant title of this piece. When the first ‘stay at home’ announcement came, we had already been reading about this tiny but mean virus which originated in big bad China and was slowly spreading its tentacles (not sure if you could call its spiky hairstyle as ‘tentacles’, but we will let that pass) in our beloved country. Hence we felt very patriotic and decided to co-operate with the authorities. We even put on a ‘son et lumeire’ (sound and light) show on request from the guy at the top; first sound at 5 pm and then light at 9 pm (on different days of course as decided by several astrologers). We reasoned with ourselves that a couple of weeks at home couldn’t really hurt – we will just pretend we had gone on a vacation, minus the expenses! Many of us even learnt new skills

  5. Blog 20 Apr 2020 3 min read

    "Dream big and chase it. You will reach your destination. ": Dr GN Rao

    eOphta: Ophthalmology practice in India has changed tremendously in the last couple of decades. As someone who has driven this change are you happy with what has been achieved? Dr. G N Rao: Much has changed but we still have to go a long way in achieving high quality, basic minimum standards in care and education. Right now, this is limited to a small fraction eOphta: A career in medical research is not considered rewarding in India. Your institute gives a lot of emphasis on research and has received due recognition for the same. What advice would you give to young Indian medical professionals who are ambivalent about a career in research? Dr. G N Rao: Research, in my view, cannot be forced. But for those interested, it could be very exciting. The ambivalence is largely due to no exposure to good research. If someone is inclined, that person should do a short stint with a high quality researcher. Following this, one can decide eOphta: You have overseen a very robust community ophthalmo

  6. Students Gallery 16 Apr 2020 1 min read

    Fifty Percent in Ophthalmology

    Approximately 50 % of eyes develop NVG following ischaemic CRVO 50% of patients with ICE syndrome have glaucoma 50% of Cogan Rees patients have absent iris atrophy 50% of congenital glaucoma patients develop visual field loss 50% of patients with Reiger syndrome develop glaucoma 50% of patients with Peter’s anomaly develop glaucoma 50% of patients with NF-1 who develop glaucoma also develop neurofibroma of upper eyelid or facial hemiatrophy 50% of lacrimal gland masses are inflammatory and 50 % are neoplastic. After 5 years of ALT, 50% of eyes have controlled IOP Bleeding occurs in 50% cases after Nd:YAG irodotomy 50% of infants at birth, have obstrtuction of NLD at the level of valve Hasner 50% of patients with angioid streaks have systemic associations 50% of all retinal detachments are associated with one or more breaks 50% of cases of IPCV have good prognosis Maculopathy occurs in 50% cases of non central optic disc pits Cancer associated retinopathy is the initial manifestation of

  7. Students Gallery 14 Apr 2020 14 min read

    Back Bencher's Note: Must Know About Diabetic Retinopathy

    Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) The word diabetes mellitus comes from the Greek words “Diabetes” means “siphon” and mellitus which means “honey tested urine”. According to American Diabetes Association, the diagnosis of diabetes can be made in a person who symptomatic with polydipsia, polyphagia, polyuria, weight loss, and random plasma glucose level is >= 200 mg/dl and or fasting glucose level is >= 126 mg/dl. Diabetic retinopathy is a vascular complication of the disease and a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Risk factors for the development of DR: Duration of diabetes Poor control of diabetes. Pregnancy Hypertension, Nephropathy Miscellaneous like hyperlipidemia, smoking, cataract surgery, obesity, and anemia. Pathogenesis of DR: Characteristic pathological Changes in DR are- 1. Pericyte Loss: Abnormal pericytic deposition of material due to sorbitol or advanced glycation end products (AGEs) through the aldose reductase polyol pathway. 2. Basement Membrane (BM)Changes: Retinal Capill

  8. Students Gallery 5 Apr 2020 8 min read

    Peripheral Retinal Degenerations

    The peripheral retina extends from equator to ora serrata , comprises of extensive degenerative changes and anatomical variations with clinical importance in certain situations indicating the importance of meticulous examination of peripheral retina with indirect ophthalmoscopy. Anatomically, peripheral retinal degenerations can be categorized in the following ways : Vitreo-retinal degenerations : Lattice degeneration Snail track degeneration Snowflake degeneration White without pressure ( WWOP) Intraretinal degenerations : Microcystoid degeneration (Typical and reticular) Degenerative Retinoschisis Pars plana cyst Chorioretinal degenerations : Paving stone degenerations Tips for peripheral Fundus examination : The patient is asked to lie in the supine position and indirect ophthalmoscope mounted on the examiner’s head with a 20D condensing lens placed parallel to the iris plane. The patient is asked to look away from the examiner in the extreme periphery in the direction of the quadra

  9. Articles 5 Apr 2020 14 min read

    Dry Eye – A Review

    INTRODUCTION: There are several definitions for dry eye available in world literature. The one that I prefer is the following: Dry eye is a disease in which there is a qualitative and /or quantitative decline in the tears accompanied by disorders of the ocular surface. The new definition proposed by the Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS) in 2006-07 states: Dry eye is a multifactorial disease of tear film & ocular surface resulting in symptoms of ocular discomfort, visual disturbance and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface. This is associated with hyperosmolarity of the tear film and inflammation of ocular surface It is important that dry eye is recognized as a disease entity and not merely regarded as a nuisance. This definition also makes clear that one can have dry eye even in the presence of epiphora, as the quality of the tears may be inadequate to provide lubrication, with normal quantity of tear production. Also, even if the quality and quantity of tears is ini

  10. Students Gallery 5 Apr 2020 6 min read

    How to evaluate a Humphrey Visual field in Practical Examination

    Visual field is the part of environment that is visible to the steadily fixing eye. The limits of visual field for each fixing eye is 60 degrees superiorly and nasally, 75 degrees inferiorly and 110 degrees temporally. Fig 1 shows the normal island of vision as described by TRAQUAIR. The hill is highest at fixation, where the visual sensitivity is highest and as we go peripherally the height of hill decreases due to decreasing visual sensitivity in the periphery. Based on this principle the modern visual field testings are operated. Perimetry is the measurement of “Hill of Vision” in terms of establishing the patient’s differential light sensitivity. There are mainly two types of perimetry test: Kinetic (ie. Bjerrum’s screen, Goldmann, Lister perimetry) Static /automated (ie. Humphrey, octopus) We will be discussing about how to evaluate the Humphrey visual field (HVF). Before delving deep into the Humphrey field testing, we should know few basic points which will keep on revolving dur

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