Please don't say “PEE” in Ophthalmology

English writers all agree

On two “H”s in Ophthalmology.
There are two “L”s as well, you’ll see;
That’s in the root, four in Ophthalmologically.
The first “L” may be spoken quietly
As in calm or psalm or palmistry.

Count them if you are not clear.
Thirteen letters must appear
To make the noun, sixteen in all
For the modifier Ophthalmological
And then two more come naturally
For spelling Ophthalmologically.

The trick, the test, the special bit
Is the magic of pronouncing it.
The “P” is softened by the “H” to make the sound of “-ff”.
The next two letters are, of course, an ordinary “-th”.
Think “RudolPH THe red-…” and you’ll not be wrong.
The “PHTH” is a consonant diPHTHong.

Written by Bruce Lowden, 1993

Massive rise in Asian eye damage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17942181

Up to 90% of school leavers in major Asian cities are suffering from myopia - short-sightedness - a study suggests.

Eye care activities in the east

Surgical eye camp team from MRRH has been touring the six eastern Dzongkhags conducted surgical eye camps.Till date the team has traveled to Riserboo Hospital,Tashiyangtse Hospital and Samdrup Jongkhar Hospital and operated about 84 eyes and seen more than 1400 OPD cases. About 85% of the surgeries were SICS with PCIOL(for cataract).Similar camps would be conducted in other hospitals in the days ahead.

Meanwhile a team for Comprehensive School Health Program(CSHP) comprising of a staff each from eye, dental and ENT units has started the annual CSHP activities in the Dzongkhag.

Ophthalmic team from MRRH conducts surgical eye camp at Riserboo Hospital

A team of eyecare professionals from MRRH, comprising an ophthalmologist,an optometrist,two ophthalmic technicians and a trainee ophthalmic technician,were in Riserboo Hospital for five days starting 5th March for a surgical eye camp.The team had busy hours with a successful 20 cataract and seven other surgeries performed.

The total of 352 OPD patients registered for the comprehensive eye examination.Students requiring refractive corrections were also given spectacle frames and lenses free of cost.

Ophthalmic team for the Riserboo Surgical eye camp

Tie a unmovable microscope on a table,hold the table and perform surgery;

6/6 vision is still possible.

Ophthalmic team from MRRH takes a snap with the smiling patients undergone cataract surgery.

NETRA

http://web.media.mit.edu/~pamplona/NETRA/

Eye camps in Bhutan

http://michaelamendolia.photoshelter.com/gallery/Bhutan-Eye-Camp/G0000Rqmt3OzyTFU/P00005zvDu97JMKU

Vitreo-retinal Surgeon joins MRRH

The CME on Advances to control Blindness for the second batch of Ophthalmic professionals from eastern Bhutan successfully concluded on 26th January in Samdrup Jongkhar.
Dr. Bhim Bdr. Rai,Ophthalmologist has joined MRRH as the country's first vitreo-retinal surgeon after completing 15 months of fellowship for the same.The Department has also trained two Ophthalmic Technicians in Retina at the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology,Nepal.
With one more super specialty in the ophthalmology department,the number of cases referred outside for treatment would be significantly decreased.

CME on Advances to Control Blindness

Ophthalmology Department will be conducting CME on Advances to Control Blindness for the eye care professional in the country.
The first batch was held from 3rd- 6th January in Phuentsholing.27 participants,mostly from the west attended the program.Dr. Kunzang Getshen (HoD), Dr. Dechen Wangmo and Dr.Kunzang L. Dorji were present as resource person.Important topics were covered and pertinent issues discussed.There was more of a interactive session where we had group discussion,group presentations,QA session,practical demonstrations and tests.


Topics presented:
1.Eye emergencies by Dr. Kunzang Getshen.
2.The paediatric eye,Strabismus and eye movements,Vision and amblyopia,Cover test and Emergencies in Ophthalmology by Dr. Dechen Wangmo
3.Common disease of lid,adnexa and orbit by Dr. Kunzang L. Dorji 


Discussion were held to standardize School Eye Health Program,Screening program,monthly reports and hospital surgeries report.We worked out and came up with standard referral feedback format,SEHP format and glass prescription format.Some unsolved issues are kept for discussion with the participants of the next batch of CME.The program was a success.
The next batch of the program is scheduled to be held from 23th- 26th January in Samdrupjongkhar.Around 30 eye professionals,mostly from the east are expected to attend it.

DR Survey underway

Ophthalmology Department is carrying out  a rapid survey on prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Bhutan. Diabetic Retinopathy is a growing concern because the epidemic of non-communicable disease such as diabetes is on the rise even in the rural parts of the country.It would provide an important challenge in the future.
Diabetes is no longer the concern of the rich only...it is travelling hills and cliffs to knock the doors of the poor.

Watchdog NICE says no to eye drug Lucentis for diabetes

By Michelle Roberts

Health reporter, BBC News

30th November 2011

A drug that could save the sight of people with diabetes will not be made available on the NHS in England and Wales, an advisory body has concluded.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) says ranibizumab, sold under the brand name Lucentis, is too expensive to use in people with diabetic macular oedema.

Charities say they will continue to campaign for the drug to be used.At least 50,000 people in the UK are affected by this eye condition.

Sight saver

Macular oedema occurs when fluid leaks from the small blood vessels in the eye.

The fluid collects in the central part of the retina at the back of the eye, called the macular area, which can lead to severe visual impairment.

Straight lines may appear wavy and people can have blurred central vision or sensitivity to light.Sight can become so impaired that the person can no longer read, work or drive.Laser treatment has been the standard treatment for diabetic macular oedema on the NHS, but this only stops vision from deteriorating further.

An injection of Lucentis in the eye, however, can improve vision.NICE already recommends Lucentis to the NHS for a different eye condition called wet age-related macular degeneration.

Four UK charities - Diabetes UK, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Macular Disease Society and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) - are urging government to rapidly agree a Patient Access Scheme with the manufacturer of Lucentis, Novartis, in order to bring down the cost of the drug to the NHS for treating diabetic macular oedema.

Currently, the drug costs £742.17 per injection.

Steve Winyard from the RNIB said: "We now hope that a patient access scheme can be agreed swiftly, so that patients with diabetic macular oedema are not left to needlessly lose their sight."

A spokeswoman for Novartis said the company would continue to work with NICE and the Department of Health to "ensure appropriate patients are able to receive this very important treatment, which in clinical trials has been shown to double the likelihood of gaining vision and reduce the chance of losing vision by up to three-fold compared to laser treatment".

Novartis believes that NICE did not consult sufficiently with clinical and patient experts on the data it submitted to the appraisal committee.

But Sir Andrew Dillon, Chief Executive at NICE, said the manufacturer significantly underestimated the cost of treatment.

                                          An eye examination can reveal the problem