Amblyopia is one of the most common causes of visual defi cit in children. Presently, in the Ministry of Health Malaysia hospitals, there is no documented data on the characteristic and profi le of amblyopia cases. This study was conducted to scribe the profile of new amblyopia cases seen by optometrists at the Ministry of Health (MOH) Hospitals. This study was a retrospective and multicenter study including all MOH hospitals with optometry clinics. Clinical record data of amblyopic patients aged 3 to 17 years old who were newly diagnosed between 1st August 2010 to 31st January 2011 and who fulfi lled the inclusion criteria were obtained. Data collected included demography, systemic history, ocular history and optometric findings and diagnosis. Thirty eight MOH hospitals participated and a total of 301 patients were diagnosed with functional amblyopia within the study period. Mean age for these amblyopic patients was 7.70 + 0.16 years old. Boys were the predominant gender (57.1%) and Malay preceded the other races with a 65.4% occurrence. Mild amblyopia was found in 51.5% of the patients, 31.6% were with moderate amblyopia and only 16.9% of patients were severe amblyopia. The underlying amblyogenic causes assessed were ametropia (61.5%), anisometropia (25.2%), strabismus (9.3%) and stimulus deprivation (4.0%). Refractive error was discovered as the most common cause of amblyopia in this study. It is crucial for optometrists to detect this type of visual impairment and undertake an early optometric intervention.
Study site: multicenter study including all MOH hospital
Introduction: Unequal retinal image size (RIS) or aniseikonia is usually related with anisometropia. Higher dif- ferences of RIS may manifest symptoms such as dizziness, headache or disorientation. In worst case might cause suppression that leads to amblyopia. Current study aims to evaluate the consistency of aniseikonia measurement in Smart Optometry smartphone application among myopic, hyperopic, and astigmatic simulated anisometropia and real anisometropia groups. Methods: Fifteen real anisometropes (refractive error; -0.50 until -6.00 diopters; D) and fifteen emmetropes (refractive error: -0.25 until +0.50D) were recruited. Real anisometropes wore their habitual spectacle correction while each emmetropes were fitted using soft contact lenses of +4.00DS, -4.00DS and -4.00DC with base curve 8.6 and total diameter 14.2mm in random order to mimic myopic-, hyperopic- and astigmat- ic-anisometropia before testing. Participants with any ocular disease and binocular vision problem were excluded. The consistency of aniseikonia measurement was determined in two visits, separated by at least 24-hour interval. Three repetitive measurements were taken in each visit. Results: Independent t-test and paired t-test showed that real and simulated anisometropia gave insignificant aniseikonia percentage, p>0.05. ICC findings revealed moder- ate-to-good agreement for all simulated and real groups. Bland Altman analysis between two visits exhibited good agreement among all simulated group; myopic (mean difference 0.2047; 95%CI:-1.1386-1.549), hyperopic (mean difference 0.2200; 95%CI:-0.9286-1.3686) and astigmatic (mean difference 0.2533; 95%CI:-0.7114-1.2180). Real anisometropes demonstrated good agreement with bias value of 0.2247(95%CI:-0.9162-1.3656) using Bland Altman plot. Conclusion: Smart Optometry application provides consistent measurement of aniseikonia regardless any types of anisometropia.
This study illustrates and quantifies the changes on corneal tissue between the paraffin-embedded and resin-embedded blocks and thus, selects a better target in investigational ophthalmology and optometry via light microscopy. Corneas of two cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were used in this study. The formalin-fixed cornea was prepared in paraffin block via the conventional tissue processing protocol (4-day protocol) and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The glutaraldehyde-fixed cornea was prepared in resin block via the rapid and modified tissue processing procedure (1.2-day protocol) and stained with toluidine blue. The paraffin-embedded sample exhibits various undesired tissue damage and artifact such as thinner epithelium (due to the substantial volumic extraction from the tissue), thicker stroma layer (due to the separation of lamellae and the presence of voids) and the distorted endothelium. In contrast, the resin-embedded corneal tissue has demonstrated satisfactory corneal ultrastructural preservation. The rapid and modified tissue processing method for preparing the resin-embedded is particularly beneficial to accelerate the microscopic evaluation in ophthalmology and optometry.
AIM: The purpose of this study was to survey the attitudes of optometrists and ophthalmologists, located in a number of different countries, towards diagnostic tests and therapies for dry eye disease.
METHODS: A web-based questionnaire was used to survey attitudes using forced-choice questions and Likert scales.
RESULTS: Sixty-one respondents (23 ophthalmologists and 38 optometrists) reported a wide range of patient dry eye symptoms. A large variation in use of diagnostic tests was noted. Patient symptoms and fluorescein staining were reported to be significantly more valuable and more frequently performed than any other test. Artificial tear supplements and improved lid hygiene were the preferred therapeutic options selected by the entire group. The results demonstrated a wide variation in attitudes in relation to satisfaction with the range of available diagnostic and therapeutic options.
CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the interest for the issue of dry eye is relatively limited amongst eye professionals, as demonstrated by the poor participation in the questionnaire.
BACKGROUND: Occupational exposure to various neurotoxic chemicals has been shown to be associated with colour vision impairment. It seems that this can occur at low exposure levels, sometimes well below the recommended occupational threshold limits. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of exposure to petroleum derivatives (polyethylene, polystyrene) and solvents (perchloroethylene) on colour perception.
METHODS: Colour vision was assessed using the Ishihara plates, the D-15 test and the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue test. Two factories using petroleum derivatives and three dry cleaning premises were chosen at random. A total of 93 apparently healthy employees were recruited from the five workplaces. Two age-matched control groups comprising 56 people, who were support staff of the university with no exposure to petroleum, solvents or their derivatives, were also recruited.
RESULTS: All subjects passed the Ishihara test, showing that none had a congenital red-green defect. Some of the exposed employees failed the D-15 and had abnormally high FM100 Hue scores. All control subjects passed all the colour vision tests. The D-15 test showed that 28 per cent (26 of 93) of exposed employees had a colour vision defect whereas the FM 100 Hue test found that 63 per cent (59 of 93) had a colour vision defect. Most defects were of the blue-yellow type (22.6 per cent) when using the D-15 test. However, with the FM 100 Hue test, most defects were of the non-polar type with no specific axis (50.5 per cent). Mean total error scores calculated from the FM100 Hue test for exposed employees were statistically significantly higher than those of the control subjects.
CONCLUSION: Employees directly exposed to petroleum derivatives and solvents have a higher risk of acquiring colour vision defects compared to subjects who are not.
Study sites: Factories; the control subjects were tested at the Optometry Clinic in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.