The Consulting Room: What lies beneath

An interesting case was brought to my attention recently; in which the abnormal finding had nothing to do with the reason for the eye examination. These ‘surprise’ findings can easily disrupt our day and add considerably to decision making and patient interaction.

In this case, a 53-year-old gentleman was seen by his optometrist four weeks after routine cataract surgery. The patient was happy with his vision, which had improved from 6/12 to 6/5 and all the usual checks, including wound healing, pupils, quiet anterior chamber, centred IOL and healthy macula, demonstrated no operative or post-operative complications. It wasn’t until the optometrist examined the peripheral retina that anything out of the ordinary was found – figure 1.