? I was interested in Moneo's comments regarding the admission to patients that we optometrists are unable to see the retina in its entirety and that fundus cameras are 'nice toys'.
If he is still holding onto his direct ophthalmoscope I would agree entirely. However, a lot of us have moved on and have been using fundus cameras for more than 15 years (as he states), which prove invaluable for monitoring our patients' eye health over the long term. Moneo misses the point that these machines should not be used exclusively: they are to supplement other procedures such as indirect ophthalmoscopy or wide field scanning devices such as Optomap, which can be used on children and adults. You only have to have read the latest case histories in Optician on peripheral retinal lesions to see what a lot of us are now able to discover.
I suspect his thoughts have been stimulated by the recent promotion by Specsavers of its 'latest technology' fundus cameras, but I think he has generalised his opinion far too much and I am a little disappointed to think that the general public or other eye care professionals may also read this article and get the wrong idea.
Stephen Wilcox, Liverpool
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