Down Syndrome (DS), trisomy of chromosome 21, is one of the most common genetic causes of intellectual disability. It affects 50-80 newborns annually in New Zealand, with advanced maternal age being the primary risk factor. This article encompasses the ophthalmic impairment and clinical consideratio
In NZ Optics April 2018 issue, a frustrated Chalkeyes pondered: “Imagine if our clinical data could be anonymous and pooled. What learning is hidden in those little boxes on our screens from all our patients across the country or even the world¹?” I couldn’t agree more. Why are we wasting all this
By Darin Goldman, Nadia Waheed and Jay Duker , Reviewed by Dr Narme Deva The Atlas of Retinal OCT: Optical Coherence Tomography by Darin Goldman et al is rather a nice little book. On first impressions, it is a little on the skinny side for an ophthalmology atlas, but it is jam-packed with lovely p
This year’s Ophthalmic Nurses Group meeting was held at the Hilton Auckland alongside The New Zealand branch of RANZCO and the orthoptist’s meeting. There was no conference theme as such, but the conference organisers did themselves proud as speakers covered a diverse range of topics, reflecting the
The 6th Asia Cornea Society Meeting, the largest cornea-focused gathering in the Asia-Pacific, was held in Qingdao, China, from 16-18 May. The conference was held in conjunction with the 17th National Congress of Cornea Surface Diseases and the 10th National Congress of Refractive Surgery of the Chi
Honolulu in the 50th state of the United States of America, Hawai’i, hosted the 2018 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) conference from 29 April to 3 May this year. About 11,000 delegates attended this always popular annual event, one of the most important meetings in any op
New Zealand’s Orthoptic Society annual conference, held in parallel with the RANZCO NZ Branch meeting in Auckland, proved to be another interesting event and discussion between ophthalmology professions, both from the selection of speakers and among orthoptists after the sessions.
Orbital cellulitis is an uncommon but serious ophthalmic emergency that is potentially sight threatening. In Australasia, community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) associated orbital cellulitis was first noted in Brisbane in 20091. Ophthalmic MRSA-associated infection
Corneal transplantation is the most common form of tissue transplant in New Zealand with more than 300 cases performed annually. As widely-known, the primary indication for corneal transplantation in New Zealand over the last 25 years is keratoconus¹. Fortunately, keratoconus as an indication is typ
Systemic medication associations with presumed advanced or uncontrolled POAG; A small disc area is a risk factor for visual field progression in POAG: The Glaucoma Stereo Analysis Study; Use of optical coherence tomography by non-expert personnel as a screening approach for glaucoma
It’s widely accepted that patients undergoing LASIK surgery are happy with the results, but the New York Times says that might not be the case. Based on a recent clinical trial by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Times reports that nearly half of all people who had healthy eyes befo
Switching to preservative-free tafluprost leads to an increase in tear film thickness (TFT), breakup time and an improvement in the dry eye-related quality-of-life score, researchers found in a study published in the European Journal of Ophthalmology. The study, led by Dr Anton Hommer from Vienna,