Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, joins the podcast to review a case of a 75-year-old woman who presented with blurred vision. She had nuclear sclerosis with uniform brunescence in her right eye, an intumescent white cataract in her left eye, and poor red reflex in both eyes. Dr. Pettey reviews this patient’s options for cataract removal and explains the indications and key steps of small-incision cataract surgery (SICS). 

Ogul Uner, MD, invites Scott Oliver, MD, to the podcast to review a case of a 60-year-old man who presented with new flashes, floaters, and blurriness in his inferior field of vision in his right eye. The patient is a high myope with a relative afferent pupillary defect and pigmented cells in the anterior vitreous, with OCT imaging showing a macula-off retinal detachment. Dr. Oliver shares his approach to this case, reviews risk factors for retinal detachments, and shares insights into treatment.

In this episode, Kingsley Okafor, MD, joins Ogul Uner, MD, to review a case of a 40-year-old man who presented with intermittent visual changes, pain, and halos in his left eye. On examination, the patient had an IOP of 19 mm Hg, mild myopia, pigment on the corneal endothelium, and midperipheral transillumination iris defects in both eyes. Dr. Okafor reviews findings for pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS) and risk factors for developing pigmentary glaucoma.

Cohost Ogul Uner, MD, invites the original host of the podcast, Sila Bal, MD, MPH, to discuss a case of possible Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). The patient is a 55-year-old woman with a recent treatment of ibuprofen and doxycycline for cellulitis on her left foot. She was referred to Dr. Bal due to a concern for SJS. Dr. Bal outlines how patients with SJS typically present and describes her diagnosis and treatment approach in these cases. 

In this case, a 55-year-old man presented with an uncontrollable spasm on the right side of his face. Sila Bal, MD, invites oculofacial surgeon Julie Woodward, MD, to explain how she would approach the examination of this patient, describing the questions she would ask to obtain a detailed family and medical history and determine if the condition is a hemifacial spasm, blepharospasm, or myokymia. She shares insights into distinguishing each condition and outlines diagnostic and treatment approaches.

Sila Bal, MD, MPH, welcomes Vivienne Hau, MD, PhD, to review a case of a 56-year-old man with a history of ocular hypertension and type 2 diabetes who presented with mild nuclear sclerotic cataracts and a decrease in vision in both eyes. Dilated examination showed tortuous renal vasculature, scattered hemorrhages, cotton wool spots, and hard exudates in both eyes. Dr. Hau describes these clinical findings and explains next steps for diagnosing and treating this patient.

Sila Bal, MD, MPH, invites I. Paul Singh, MD, to discuss a recent case in which a 72-year-old pseudophakic patient with open-angle glaucoma inquired about alternatives to topical treatments due to compliance issues. Dr. Singh reviews the benefits of more interventional treatment options such as selective laser trabeculoplasty and drug delivery platforms and explains how he counsels patients about these options.

Aleksandra Rachitskaya, MD, FASRS, reviews a case of a 70-year-old woman with a history of hypertension and type-2 diabetes who presented with changes to the macula. On dilated exam, small macular drusen was observed in both eyes. Dr. Rachitskaya discusses the additional questions she would consider to better understand the patient’s risk factors for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), geographic atrophy, and more.

Sila Bal, MD, MPH, invites Rachel Simpson, MD, to review a case of a 56-year-old woman who presented with elevated intraocular pressure with inferior and superior disc thinning. The patient had not undergone an eye examination in 10 years and experienced no other visual symptoms. Dr. Simpson reviews how she would proceed after these findings, describing the questions she would ask regarding family history of glaucoma and potential next steps towards treatment. 

Sarah A. Avila, MD, an oculoplastic and orbital surgeon, joins Sila Bal, MD, MPH, to review a case of an 8-year-old boy who presented with worsening redness and swelling of his left eyelid over 3 days. He had normal findings on dilated examination with full extraocular motility. Dr. Avila reviews her approach to these cases, describes important orbital exam findings and considerations, and highlights the ‘six Ps’ of orbital history: pain, proptosis, progression, palpitation, pulsation, and periocular changes.