Hearing Echoes again

The treatment of wet AMD has been one of the major breakthroughs in eye care in recent decades. Its very success, however, has also caused problems. The need for repeat monitoring and treatments over time has led to great pressure being placed upon the hospital sector, and many vitreo-retinal clinics are struggling to provide appointments for the ever-increasing number of patients requiring the service.

At this year’s Optrafair, there was a timely reminder from Professor Usha Chakravarthy of a study which underlines how community based optometrists with access to an OCT offer a possible solution to this problem. As OCTs become more widespread in the community, I felt it worth another look at the Echoes study.