Ophthalmology Flashcards
What is a glaucoma? What are the two types?
Optic nerve damage caused by significant rise in intraocular pressure caused by blockage in aqueous humour trying to escape eye
Open-angle and closed-angle
Label the following:
Label:
What fills the vitreous chamber?
Vitreous humour
What fills the anterior chamber and posterior chamber?
Aqueous humour (supplies nutrients to the cornea)
What is the aqueous humour produced by? Where does it flow?
Ciliary body (flows from ciliary body, around lens, under iris through the anterior chamber through trabecular meshwork and into the canal of Schlemm - then into general circulation)
What is the normal intraocular pressure? How is this created?
10-21mmHg
Created by resistance to flow through the trabecular meshwork into the canal of Schlemm
What happens in open-angle glaucoma?
Gradual increase in resistance through the trabecular meshwork (slow and chronic onset)
What happens in acute angle-closure glaucoma?
Iris buldges forwards and seals off the trabecular meshwork from anterior chamber (emergency)
What happens to the optic disc when intraocular pressure is raised?
Cupping of the optic disc (greater than 0.5 is abnormal)
What are the risk factors for open angle glaucoma?
Increased age
FH
Black ethnic origin
Nearsightedness (myopia)
How does open-angle glaucoma present?
Asymptomatic (often diagnosed by routine screening)
Affects peripheral vision first creating tunnel vision, also:
- Fluctuating pain
- Headaches
- Blurred vision
- Halos appearing around lights
What are the two ways of measuring intraocular pressure?
Non-contact tonometry - shooting “puff of air” at cornea and measuring corneal response (less accurate, good for screening)
Goldmann applanation tonometry - device mounted on slip lamp which makes contact with cornea and applies different pressures to measure intraocular pressure (gold standard)
How is open angle glaucoma diagnosed?
Goldman applanation tonometry - check intraocular pressure
Fundoscopy - check optic disc cupping and optic nerve health
Visual field assessment - peripheral vision loss
At what intraocular pressure is treatment started?
24mmHg or above
What is the management of open angle glaucoma?
Prostaglandin analogue eye drops (e.g. latanoprost) are first line - increase uveoscleral outflow
Other options:
- Beta-blockers (timolol) reduces production of aqueous humour
- Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (e.g. dorzolamide) reduces the production of aqueous humour
- Sympathomimetics (e.g. brimonidine) reduces production fo aqueous humour and increase uveoscleral outflow
Surgery
What are the side effects of prostaglandin analogue eye drops (e.g. latanoprost)?
Eyelash growth
Eyelid pigmentation
Iris pigmentation
What is the surgery for open angle glaucoma?
Trabeculectomy (if eyedrops ineffective)
Creat new channel from anterior chamber through sclera to a location under conjunctiva (creating “bleb”) where aqueous humour drains
Where is the pressure build up greatest in acute angle-closure glaucoma?
Posterior chamber causing pressure behind iris and worsening of closure of angle
What are the risk factors for acute angle-closure glaucoma?
Increasing age
Female (4:1)
FH
Chinese and east asian origin (unlike open-angle glaucome, rare in black ethnicity)
Hypermetropia (long sightedness)
Which medications can precipitate acute angle-closure glaucoma?
Adrenergic medications e.g. noradrenalin
Anticholinergic medications e.g. oxybutynin and solifenacin
TCA e.g. amitriptyline (have anti-cholinergic effects)
Mydriatic eye drops
How does acute angle-closure glaucoma present?
Severely painful red eye
Blurred vision
Halos around lights
Associated headache, nausea and vomiting
How does acute angle-closure glaucoma appear on examination?
Red-eye
Teary
Hazy cornea
Decreased visual acuity
Dilatation of affected pupul
Fixed pupil size
Film eyeball on palpation
What is the inital management of acute open-angle glaucoma?
Referred for same-day assessment by opthalmologist
- Lie patient on back without pillow
- Give pilocarpine eye drops (2% blue, 4% brown)
- Acetazolamide 500mg orally
- Analgesia and antiemetic if required
How does pilocarpine work?
On muscarinic receptors in sphincter muscles of iris causing constriction of pupil (miotic agent)
Causes ciliary muscle contraction
Opening up pathway from flow of aqueous humour from ciliary body around iris and into trabecular meshwork
How does acetazolamide work?
Carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (reducing production of aqueous humour)
What medical options are there in secondary care for acute angle-closure glaucoma?
Pilocarpine
Acetazolamide (oral / IV)
Hyperosmotic agents e.g. glycerol or mannitol increases osmotic gradient between blood and fluid in eye
Timolol = beta-blocker that reduces production of aqueous humour
Dorzolamide = carbonic anhydrase inhibitor reducing production of aqueous humour
Brimonidine = sympathomimetic reducing production of aqueous fluid and increasing uveoscleral outflow
What is the surgical management of acute angle-closure glaucoma?
Laser iridotomy (definitive treatment) - laser makes hole in iris to allow aqueous humour to flow from posterior chamber into anterior chamber relieving pressure
What is the most common cause of blindness in the UK?
Age-related degeneration of the macular causing progressive deterioration in vision
What is a key fundoscopy finding in macular degeneration?
Drusen
What are the two types of age related macular degeneration?
Wet (worse prognosis)
Dry
What are the four layers of the macular?
Choroid layer (bottom = blood vessels to macula)
Bruch’s membrane
Retinal pigment epithelium
Photoreceptors
What are drusen?
Yellow deposits of protein and lipids that appear between retinal pigment epithelium and Bruch’s membrane
Some is normal (<63 micrometres) and hard
Larger and more = early sign of macular degeneration
What features are common to both wet and dry AMD?
Atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium
Degeneration of the photoreceptors
What feature is unique to wet AMD?
Development of new vessels growing from choroid layer into retina - can leak fluid or blood and cause oedema and more rapid loss of vision
What is targeted in the treatment of wet AMD?
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
What are the risk factors for AMD?
Age
Smoking
White / chinese ethnic origin
FH
CVD
How does AMD present?
Gradual worsening central visual field loss
Reduced visual acuity
Crooked or wavy appearance to straight lines
How does wet age-related macular degeneration present?
More acutely - loss of vision over days and progresses to full loss over 2-3 years (often progresses to bilateral)
What are the examination findings for AMD?
Reduced acuity using a Snellen chart
Scotoma (central patch of vision loss)
Amsler grid test - look for distortion of straight lines
Fundoscopy - drusen are key findings
What specialist investigations are there for AMD?
Slit-lamp biomicroscopic fundus examination by a specialist to diagnose AMD
Optical coherence tomography to gain cross-sectional view of layers of retina to diagnose wet AMD
Flurescein angiography - gives fluroscein contrast and photograph retina to look in detail at the blood supply to retina (useful to show up and oedema and neovascularisation) - used second line to diagnose wet AMD if optical coherence tomography doesn’t exclude wet AMD
What is the management of dry AMD?
No specific treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration, focus on slowing disease progression:
- Avoid smoking
- Control blood pressure
- Vitamin supplementation (has evidence in slowing progression)
What is the treatment of wet AMD?
Anti-VEGF medicationse.g.ranibizumab,bevacizumabandpegaptanib
Injected directly into vitreous chamber of eye once a month (slow and reverse progression of disease)
Need to be started within 3 months to be beneficial
What is diabetic retinopathy?
Blood vessels in retina are damaged by prolonged exposure to high blood sugar levels
What happens in diabetic retinopathy?
Hyperglycaemia caused damage to retinal small vessels and endothelial cells = vascular permeability and blot haemorrhages and formation of hard exudates (yellow / white deposits of lipids in the retina)
What is the result of damage to blood vessels in diabetic retinopathy?
Microaneurysms and venous beading
What is the result of damage to nerve fibres in diabetic retinopathy?
Cotton wool spots = fluffy white patches on retina
What are the intraretinal microvascular abnormalities in diabetic retinopathy?
Dilated and tortous capillaries in retina, acting as shunt between arterial and venous vessels
What is neovascularisation?
Growth factors are released in the retina cauing development of new blood vessels
Label the following:
Label the following:
What are the two classificationsofdiabetic retinopathy?
Non-proliferative and proliferative (depending on if new blood vessels have developed)
Proliferative = background or pre-proliferative
Classified based on fundus examination
What are the categories of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy?
Mild = microaneurysms
Moderate = microaneurysms, blot haemorrhages, hard exudates, cotton wool spots and venous bleeding
Severe = blot haemorrhages plus microaneurysms in 4 quadrants, venous beading in 2 quadrants, intraretinal microvascular abnormality (IMRA) in any quadrant
What categorises proliferative diabetic retinopathy?
Neovascularisation
Vitrous haemorrhage
What categorises diabetic maculopathy?
Macular oedema
Ischaemic maculopathy
What are some complications of diabetic retinopathy?
Retinal detachment
Vitreous haemorrhage (bleeding in to the vitreous humour)
Rebeosis iridis (new blood vessel formation in the iris)
Optic neuropathy
Cataracts
What is the management of diabetic retinopathy?
Laser photocoagulation
Anti-VEGF medications e.g. ranibizumab and bevacizumab
Vitreoretinal surgery (keyhole surgery on the eye) in severe disease
What is hypertensive retinopathy?
Damage to small blood vessels in retina related to systemic hypertension (result of chronic hypertension / quick in malignant hypertension)
What signs occur in the retina in response to hypertension?
Silver wiring / copper wiring = walls of arterioles become thickened and sclerosed causing increased reflection of light
Arteriovenous nipping = arterioles cause compression of veins where they cross (again due to sclerosing and hardening of arterioles)
Cotton wool spots = caused by ischaemia and infarction in retrina causing damage to nerve fibres
Hard exudates = caused by damaged vessels leaking lipids into the retina
Retinal haemorrhages = damaged vessels rupturing and releasing blood into retina
Papilloedema caused by ischaemia to the optic nerve resulting in optic nerve swelling (oedema) and blurring of margins
Label the following:
Label the following:
What are the stages to the Keith-Wagener Classification?
Stage 1: Mild narrowing of the arterioles
Stage 2: Focal constriction of blood vessels and AV nicking
Stage 3: Cotton-wool patches, exudates and haemorrhages
Stage 4: Papilloedema
What is the management of hypertensive retinopathy?
Controlling blood pressure and risk factors e.g. smoking, blood lipid levels
What is cataracts?
Lens in eye becomes cloudy and opaque reducing visual acuity and light that enters eye
What is the role of the lens?
Focus light coming into the eye onto the retina
What is the lens held in place by?
Suspensory ligaments attached to the ciliary body (this contracts and relaxes to focus the lens - contracts = releases tension and lens thickens)
What is the lens nourished by?
Surrounding fluid (no blood supply) - grows and develops through life
When does congenital cataracts form? How is it screened for?
Before birth - screened for using red reflex during neonatal examination
What are the risk factors for cataracts?
Increasing age
Smoking
Alcohol
Diabetes
Steroids
Hypocalcaemia
How does cataracts present?
Asymmetrical as both eyes are affected separately
- Slow reduction in vision
- Progressive blurring
- Change in colour of vision = more brown / yellow
- Starbursts can appear around lights (particularly at night)
What is a key sign of cataracts?
Loss of red reflex (might show up on photographs)
How to differentiate cataracts, glaucoma, macular degenration?
Cataracts = generalised reduction in visual acuity with starbursts around lights
Glaucoma = peripheral vision loss with halos around lights
Macular degeneration = central loss of vision with crooked or wavy appearance to straight lines
What is the management of cataracts?
At what level vision is this done?
If manageable then no intervention
Surgery = phaecoemulsification (dissolving lens with US) and implanting artifical lens into the eye (usually under local anaesthetic)
Vision = less than 6/12
Why may surgery not be successful for cataracts?
May prevent detection of other pathology e.g. macular degenration / diabetic retinopathy
What is endopthalmitis?
Rare but serious complication of cataracts surgery = inflammation of the inner contents of the eye usually caused by infection can be treated with intravitreal abx
Can cause loss of vision / eye itself
What stimulates the circular muscles in the iris?
Parasympathetic nervous system using acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter (nerve fibres travel along the oculomotor cranial nerve)
What stimulates the dilator muscles?
Parasympathetic nervous system using adrenaline as a neurotransmitter
What can cause an abnormal pupil shape?
Trauma to the sphincter muscles in the iris (cataracts surgery or other eye operations)
Anterior uveitis causing adhesions (scar tissue)
Acute angle closure glaucoma (ischaemic damage to the muscles = vertical oval pupil shape)
Rubeosis iridis (neovascularisation in the iris) distorts shape of iris and pupil - associated w diabetic retinopathy
Coloboma is a congenital malformation in eye - hole in iris
Tadpole pupil - spasm in a segment of iris causing misshapen pupil (temporary and associated with migraines)
What are some causes of mydriasis (dilated pupil) ?
Third nerve palsy
Holmes-Adie syndrome
Raised intracranial pressure
Congenital
Trauma
Stimulants, such as cocaine
Anticholinergics
What are some causes of miosis (constricted pupil)?
Horners syndrome
Cluster headaches
Argyll-Robertson pupil (in neurosyphilis)
Opiates
Nicotine
Pilocarpine