CHOROIDAL NEVUS

The little brown spot above the optic nerve between the blood vessels (it's really below the optic nerve but during examination it looks above it) is a choroidal nevus in the left eye of the same patient with the vacuole below (how's that for a run-on sentence!). A nevus is present in about 5-10% of caucasians. Growth occurs mainly during adolescent years so any growth in adulthood is suspicious. As nevi go, this one is very small and very unlikely to ever grow into a melanoma. However is should be monitored with dilated eye examinations on a yearly basis.

LENS VACUOLE

The little bubble seen a little to the left is a lens vacuole in the lens of a 32 year old female. She has no symptoms. A vacuole is a change in the cortex of the posterior lens of the eye. It may eventually lead to a cortical cataract. If it grows it may cause glare due to light scattering.

RK SCARS

This is the right eye of a 45 year old gentleman who had RK 20 years ago. This was a very nice job in that the surgeon was not over-aggressive, minimizing the number of cuts.

This patient is slightly hyperopic, 20/25 without correction, although the time has come to get some glasses for reading.

POSTERIOR VITREOUS DETACHMENT

This is a floater in the left eye indicating a posterior vitreous detachment. Our eyes are fille dup with a bag of gel that goes up against the back wall of the eye like wallpaper. At some point in most patient's eyes the bag falls off the back of the eye. This floater is where the bag was against the optic nerve. It is called a Weiss' Ring. People say they notice it less and less as time goes by. For those that are bothered by floaters a lot, surgery is an option.

CATARACT

This is a patient with nuclear sclerotic cataract in the left eye. The eye became suddenly very near sighted within the period of a couple months. His best corrected vision is 20/60 and will need surgery.

Picture 00010 - KERATITIS FROM CONTACT LENS OVERWEAR

This is the left eye of a 48 year old female who had RK surgery years ago. She is now wears +5.00 Biomedics XC contact lenses and reported overwearing it. Her eye is now red and watery. Examination revealed punctate epithelial staining (mild damage to surface cells) with the beginning of collection of white blood cells beneath them. This appears to be an inflammatory response to hypoxia (decreased oxygen). A mild dosage of antibiotic/anti-inflammatory drops were given and patient will follow-up.

0009

Asteroid Hyalosis. This is a patient in her 50's. Asteroid Hyalosis is usually asymptomatic, but as in the case with this patient, she does report seeing floaters in this eye. Usually it is in one eye but may be in both eyes in some patients. It does not need to be treated. It may be associated with diabetes and hypertension, but not always.

0006, 0007

This patient has a mild marginal keratitis. The condition is made worse by the fact that he is a "half blinker" and has dry eyes and Anterior Basement Membrane Dystrophy". Meibomianitis is also a precipitating factor. Exotoxins from bacteria in the eyelids cause this 4:00 staining, inflammation, and protective layer breakdown. This patient was treated with anti-inflammatory and antibiotic.

PICTURE 00005

This is a gentleman in his 50's with Anterior Basement Dystrophy. This is an irregularity of the surface of the cornea. It is genetic. It can be progressive but not necessarily. It causes a feeling of having something in the eye, makes dry eye symptoms worse. It can be treated with lubricants and ointments. It can be treated surgically if it causes recurrent corneal erosions, or abrasions on the cornea.