Blink Eye Clinic: 12 months old. Thanks for all your support. June 2018 — Newsletter:— Blink Eye Clinic celebrates 1 year in business Thank you to everybody who has supported Blink Eye Clinic over the past 12 months. Setting up a new business is a daunting prospect but the process has been made so much easier because of the wonderful referrers who continue to support our business. We have had amazing feedback from our patients. JK: Dr Richard Barry is not only a brilliant surgeon, he is passionate, kind and caring. The wonderful team at Blink are extremely efficient, helpful and friendly. The modern contemporary state of the art practice provides a relaxed professional ambience. LB: Absolutely the nicest, most professional and organised experience. All staff extremely efficient and knowledgeable. Dr Barry so fantastic- I'm biased as I was given great news. Happy experience. Happy customer. Plus minimal out of pocket cost. Strongly recommend Blink in Canberra. For more information call the team at Blink Eye Clinic on 02 51040929 or email hello@blink.clinic — Cataract Zeiss IOL Master upgrade and Heidelberg Spectralis OCT angiography
We thoroughly believe in what we are doing and in maintaining the highest standard of care. Blink Eye Clinic is committed to staying current in an ever-changing ophthalmology environment. Next month will see the upgrade of our top-of-the-range cataract preoperative assessment unit, the Zeiss IOL Master 700. This will include the most advanced software to date, Total Keratometry. Our Spectralis OCT will be upgraded to OCT2 and include the ever-evolving and cutting-edge OCT angiography module. Blink Eye Clinic will continue to offer "gap" billing for all insured patients requiring vitreoretinal surgery and also for insured pension cardholders holders requiring cataract surgery. For more information call the team at Blink Eye Clinic on 02 51040929 or email hello@blink.clinic June 2018 — Case of the Month:Doesn't exactly pop out at you...— History
— Examination
— Imaging UWF
OCTOuter retinal disturbance at level of ellipsoid zone. Similar changes on left. OCTMinimal fundus autofluorescence changes. This is in contrast to what you might see in a lipofuscinopathy e.g. vitelliform disease, where autofluorescence changes are prominent. — Differential Diagnosis
— InvestigationsNo further investigations. Clinical diagnosis based on history. Patient admitted to a long history of 'poppers' usage. — Diagnosis'Poppers' maculopathy— Discussion‘Poppers’ are substances of abuse belonging to the volatile alkyl nitrite family of compounds. Inhalation of the fumes provides a brief sense of euphoria or arousal. They have been in common use for several decades and are a global phenomenon, with reports from many western countries including those in Europe, North America and Australasia documenting their high incidence of abuse. The particular alkyl nitrite compound has changed in recent years in response to European legislation. In the UK, it is reported that up to 10% of the general population have tried poppers, with 1% having done so within the past year. This rate is higher in the ‘clubbing’ (electronic dance music) and gay communities. Since 2010 there have been numerous case reports and case series from Europe and Australia of poppers users who developed visual symptoms secondary to macular pathology; a condition referred to as ‘poppers maculopathy’. More than 50 cases have been described, all of which share similar symptoms including blurred vision, metamorphopsia, photopsia and fluctuating vision. The range of visual impairment described is mild to moderate, with Snellen acuity levels typically ranging from 6/9 to 6/12. The most useful diagnostic tool is spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) which demonstrated disruption of the subfoveal outer retinal layers in almost all cases. Ophthalmoscopy can show a yellow lesion at the fovea, although this may be very subtle. Causality, while difficult to prove with 100% certainty, is anecdotally agreed among ophthalmologists, and has been interrogated in previous publications. Both short-term (including one-off) and long-term poppers users seem to be at risk of developing maculopathy. Published cases suggest a degree of dose-response, with more chronic users appearing at greater risk of more profound and long-lasting vision loss. It is not yet known whether the retinal damage is permanent, although several cases have had a long-term reduction in vision in spite of cessation of use. hello@blink.clinic www.blink.clinic |