EUROPEAN OPHTHALMIC REVIEW – VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2 – SUMMER 2012

Identification of an infectious cause in intraocular inflammation is of crucial importance since their treatment and prognosis differ from non-infectious aetiologies. Anterior uveitis is a common form of infectious intraocular inflammation. A viral cause of anterior uveitis is often underestimated, as anterior uveitis in most patients is either idiopathic or associated with HLA-B27 positivity.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among elderly individuals in developed industrialised countries and affects approximately 30–50 million people worldwide.1–4 There are two forms of AMD: dry AMD (dAMD) which accounts for about 80 % of all cases of AMD, and neovascular AMD (nAMD). Early stage AMD is characterised by soft […]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was introduced by Huang and colleauges in 19911 and became commercially available in 1995. It is a fast, non-invasive, non-contact method that enables in vivo visualisation of the retinal and vitreoretinal microstructure on a high-resolution cross-section (2D) or 3D image.2–5 OCT is also a powerful method for obtaining retinal thickness measurements. […]

Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy caused by the death of retinal ganglion cells and degeneration of their axons in the optic nerve.6 This leads to damage of the optic disc and subsequent loss of the visual field.6 Glaucoma is known to be one of the principal causes of blindness worldwide.7,8 Population-based data indicate that […]

The detection of structural damage to the optic nerve head (ONH) is central to the diagnosis of glaucoma and is extremely important for monitoring patients at risk of glaucoma or with established disease. Glaucoma, by definition, is an optic neuropathy and therefore specific attention must be directed to the examination of the optic nerve. The […]

Methods Relevant publications were identified through searches of PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library using the following search terms: cataract, cataract surgery, postsurgical inflammation, anti-inflammatory and corticosteroid. Results were limited to English-language, peer-reviewed primary studies and reviews published between the years 2000 and 2010 (inclusive). Additional references were obtained by searching reference lists of identified […]

Cataract surgery is a commonly performed surgical procedure. The ageing population and the bilateral nature of the condition correlate with the increasing number of extractions. For example, in 2009, 345,000 cataract operations were performed in England. This is a substantial increase on the 230,000 procedures that were undertaken in 2000.1

The concept of an intraocular lens (IOL) that can be adjusted in vivo has been hypothesised and studied since phacoemulsification became the standard of care in cataract surgery1 and its potential benefits have been recognised by previous investigators.2–4 The first published report of a multicomponent IOL that could be adjusted after implantation came in 1996.5 […]

Pre-operative Education

Keratoconus (KC) is a non-inflammatory corneal ectasia; it’s bilateral in up to 90 % of patients and usually asymmetric, unilateral cases occur. However, it has been shown1 that when diagnostic criteria and computer-assisted topographical analysis allow the detection of very early keratoconus in the fellow eye the incidence of unilateral involvement is probably in the […]

Intraocular viral infections have various presentations. They may be detected as anterior uveitis, intermediate uveitis, acute retinal necrosis (ARN), progressive outer retinal necrosis (PORN) and neuroretinitis (see Figure 1).1,2 Anterior uveitis (AU) in most patients is either idiopathic or associated with HLA-B27 positivity. However, a viral cause of AU is often underestimated. The most common […]

In the developed world diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of vision loss in the working population.1 Coupled with the fact that the prevalence of DR is expected to double by 2025, the impact on quality of life of affected individuals and the societal cost in general cannot be overstated.2 The increasing burden on […]

About ‘Causation’ in Retinoblastoma Since the formulation of the ‘two hit’ hypothesis in the genesis of retinoblastoma (Rb),1 there has been widespread agreement, among researchers in the field of ocular oncology, that this eye tumour is determined by the loss, mutation or inactivation of both copies of one and a single gene. The gene was […]