Today's Real Life Case: Macular Oedema, Hyperthyroid, Cataracts, and a Trilingual Consultation!
Every day is interesting in the Andrew & Rogers eye clinic! Our morning clinic has thrown up an interesting mix of eye problems today.
We have seen a case of macular oedema, which might sound like a foreign language to many of you reading this. However to put it simply, macular oedema is when fluid builds up in the macular, which is in the centre of the retina. The macula is responsible for providing you with sharp vision, and so fluid build up in this area can seriously distort your vision.
We think this case of macular oedema was brought on by having cataract surgery, but it is not serious and our OCT results (see below) are proving to us that it is gradually resolving and the client is very happy with this.
The danger of this case, and of macular oedema, is that it can often go unnoticed if only one eye is affected, and you may not notice any issues with your vision until the condition has become advanced. In the worst cases, this can lead to irreversible damage and vision loss.
We also saw a case of suspect hyperthyroid today, which can be very serious. We have referred the client to ophthalmology and we will bring you an update when we know the result of his referral.
Our last client of the day had flown in from Spain, he spoke Spanish and French and so came in with his son to translate. However, he discovered both he and Andrew spoke good enough French to get through the consultation, which ended with the decision that his cataracts are not severe enough for surgery, as our refraction improved his vision way beyond what he expected.