Neurology-Ophthamalogy Flashcards
The blood vessels include the central retinal vein and artery
What are the main refractive errors (common causes of impaired vision, correctable with glasses)?
Hyperopia
Myopia
Astigmatism
Presbyopia
What is Hyperopia?
aka farsightedness.
When the eye is too short for the refractive power of the cornea and lens resulting in light being focused behind the retina
What is myopia?
aka nearsightedness.
When the eye is too long for the refractive power of the cornea and lens causing light to focus in front of the retina
What is astigmatism?
abnormal curvature of the cornea causing different refractive power at different axes
What is presbyopia?
Age-related impaired accommodation (focusing on near objects), possibly due to decreased lens elasticity. Often necessitates ‘reading glasses’
What is this?
A cataract, a painless, often bilateral, opacification of the lens causing impaired vision
What are the risk factors for cataracts?
age, smoking, alcohol, sunlight, prolonged corticosteroid use
classic galactosemia
galactokinase deficiency
diabetes mellitus (sorbitol)
trauma, infection
What is glaucoma?
optic disc atrophy with characteristic cupping (thinning of the outer rim of the optic nerve head) (below)
usually with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) and progressive peripheral visual field loss
What is open angle glaucoma?
associated with increased age, AA race, fam hx. Painless, and more common in the U.S.
Primary- cause unclear
Secondary- blocked trabecular meshwork from WBCs (e.g uveitis), RBCs (e.g. vitreous hemorrhage), and retinal elements (e.g. retinal detachment)
What is primary closed/narrow angle glaucoma caused by?
Primary- enlargement or forward movement of the lens against the central iris (pupil margin) causing obstruction of normal aqueous flow through the pupil resulting in fluid buildup behind the iris, pushing the peripheral iris against the cornea and impeding flow through the tabecular meshwork
What is secondary closed/narrow angle glaucoma caused by?
hypoxia from retinal disease (e.g. DM, vein occlusion) induces vasoproliferation in iris that causes angle contraction
What is the difference between chronic closure of the glaucoma angle and acute closure?
chronic closure is often asymptomatic with damage to the optic nerve and peripheral vision, while acute closure is a true ophthalmic emergency caused by increased IOP pushing the iris forward (very painful, red eye, sudden vision loss, halos around light, frontal headache)
What is uveitis?
inflammation of the uvea (e.g. iritis aka anterior uveitis, choroiditis aka posterior uveitis). May have hypopyon (accumulation of pus in the anterior chamber) (below) or conjunctival redness
What are the associations of uveitis?
systemic inflammatory disorders (e.g. sarcoidosis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, HLA-B27 diseases)
What is most likely happening here?
age-related macular (central area of the retina) degeneration that causes distortion (metamorphopsia) and eventual loss of central vision (scotoma)
What are the types of macular degeneration?
dry and wet
Describe dry (nonexudative, 80+%) MD?
marked by deposition of yellowish extracellular material in and beneath the Bruch membrane and retinal pigment epithelium (‘drusen’) with gradual loss of vision
How can dry (nonexudative, 80+%) MD be prevented?
multivitamins and antioxidants
Describe wet (exudative, 10-15%) MD
rapid loss of vision due to bleeding secondary to choroidal neovascularization
Normal fundoscopy
How should wet MD be tx?
anti-VEGF injections (e.g. ranibizumab) or laser therapy
What are the types of diabetic retinopathy?
nonproliferative and proliferative
Describe nonproliferative DR
damaged capillaries leak blood causing lipids and fluid to seep into the retina resulting in hemorrhages and macular edema
tx: BG control and macular laser therapy