Case Presentation

Oh, the joys of having to go through case presentations.

I just finished mine. As usual, was the last person, but I don't think it's so bad...Hehe case presentation starts in your 5th semester or 3rd year Semester 1.

We had to present 2 cases, one for refractive errors or binocular vision anomalies and another was for ocular diseases. What were my cases? I chose Convergence Insufficiency for binocular vision anomalies and Dry eye with Corneal Ulcer for ocular diseases.

So what's Convergence insufficiency? Well, to put it simply, it's like you can't cross your eyes. Thus, you can't scare people with your eyes. So when you can't do this, it means that you have CI. My patient is 23 years old.

Of course this picture isn't my patient, but it's just to illustrate what cross eyed means. But when the test is done to measure how much to can cross your eyes, you're actually focusing on something so it'll definitely happen. Not like this picture where the person can consciously cross her eyes.

So what's a good management for this? Home therapy is good. One example is the Pencil Push-Up Therapy. Hold a pencil at arms length. Focus on the tip and bring it as close as you can to your nose. Focus for 10 seconds and repeat for 10 times. So my patient totally killed me by being a non-compliant patient. So if you don't listen to doctor's orders or the optometrists, what happens then? You get cosmetically unacceptable prisms incorporated into your spectacles. And how do you know how much to prism to use? By following Sheard's Criterion. Dang, I'm rambling. Maybe after unloading this, I'll feel better.

For dry eyes, my patient has Rheumatoid Arthritis which attacks the tear glands which thus affects your tear production. She has occluded her lower punctums with silicone punctal plugs. So what are punctums?? Hehe try puling your skin a little at the angle near your nose. You'll be able to see little holes there. That's why when you cry during Korean drama's, you need to blow your nose. Cause excess tears flow and cause runny nose.

Among the test to be carried out measuring tear production? Schirmer's, TBUT, as well as Jones's. Oh Emm Gee...Why ask me about Jones's test. I had a total mental block.

Oh well, all is good. It's over. And now, to focus on the theory papers as well as case work-up which is a practical test where we have patients to examine as well as viva voce.

I notice this is a boring post, but it kinda helps me to cool off, I guess. So bare with me...=)