The College of Optometrists

just a few questions thanks, in regard to dry armd and wet armd, how quickly would you refer and why? Diabetic retinopahty what would be the referrals f0r the different stages? Is NPC done with the Rx or without it? does motility need to be done in an arc movement? do we need to know about how to grade smiths anterior chamber depth as well as van herrick methods? Does anyone have links to dicon visual fields tests to have a look at- iv never seen one! finally anyone know which hotels are close to glasgow university and any city peeps doin it on the 27-28th?

Hi Sasaria

AMD

If you to Optometry Today website you can go to 'articles' and download free an article that explains how to manage AMD enough - it was published 14 DEc 2004. Its short and very too the point.

On top of that you may want to advise yr px about dietary changes to reduce the risk of progression. These would include lots of vegtables rich in anti oxydents - such as spinach and colourful fruit and vegs. Reduce fat intake, increase water intake,

Taking a multivitamin which includes copper and zinc and vitamin E is suggested for those with many large drusen or strong family history of AMD- these suppliments can be of the form designed for people at risk of AMD progression, such as VisionAce etc. These are best to a formulation suggested by the AREDS study. You can find more about this from Moorfields web site and also Bausch.com. THey should control their smoking and also wear sunglasses in strong sunshine.

They should monitor each eye for metamorphopsia every day and be prepared to go to eye casualty if they get a sudden blur of increase of metamorphopsia (as this would suggest active wet AMD).

Have a look at the article.

Diabetic retinal management can also be learned from an excellent article at Optometry Today - published on 17 Oct 2003.

NPC is traditionally done with glasses off and a bright target so you can watch the corneal reflex.

Motility is traditionally done as a union jack movement of lines. Some people do it in an arc movement - but that is harder to analyse if you find a problem. Don't forget you can also do cover tests in all positions of gaze.

I would learn Smiths method - it adds to your armoury of tests. The Von Herrick is the biggy one to learn proficiently and use on every slit lamp exam so it becomes fluid and easy. But smiths is no big deal and interesting to do.

I will look for example dicon print outs for you and come back.

http://www.optometry.co.uk

is optometry today website

- never been to glasgow

Good luck to you - steve

Hi Steve,

It's me again. I looked at the article printed on 17 Oct 2003 anout grading scales but I did not find anything about referring diabetic retinopathy, although it is actually a very useful article. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you.

Sara

Sorry Steve, I've found it! Thanks, Sara