Week 4: Cataracts and Clinics

On Monday I saw 10 more cataract surgeries. These surgeries are very quick as they only take about 30 minutes to complete. And even though the procedure is about the same from patient to patient, there are different lens implants that the patients can get. The lenses can come with a prescription in them to eliminate the patient's need for glasses after they have cataract surgery.

There were also several clinical days this week that I observed as well. At this point in the program, I have and am continuing to see the patient's journey through the clinic from the diagnosis to the surgery,  and then the post-operation meetings. I am also learning about and seeing patients with different kinds of eye diseases such as Duane Syndrome1 and optic disc drusen2. Duane syndrome is a birth defect that restricts horizontal eye movement and optic disc drusen is when abnormal protein-like deposits are found in the optic disc. It has been very eye-opening to learn about so many eye diseases and see how they affect patients' lives.

I have also spent some time working on my summer project for the past few weeks. Part of my project involves finding a grading scale and using it to analyze patients' Meibomian glands that can be visualized by using the LipiView machine. When patients have Dry Eye disease you can sometimes see the partial or complete loss of their Meibomian glands with the LipiView machine. I was able to get my Meibomian glands imaged as well and I attached a picture of them below. My eyelid was inverted to be able to see the meibomian glands. The two pictures on the left are of my right eye and the two on the right are of my left eye. The Meibomian glands can be seen in the top pictures as white spherical rods and they are darker in the bottom pictures. It was cool to be able to test the machine and see what patients go through when they are being tested.

1. Duane syndrome. (n.d.). Retrieved July 6, 2018, from https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/duane-syndrome/
2. Bryn Mawr Communications. (n.d.). Optic Disc Drusen. Retrieved July 6, 2018, from http://glaucomatoday.com/2012/02/optic-disc-drusen/