Gimbel Eye Centre

We describe the case of a male patient who presented with anisocoria, and was initially diagnosed with an acute Adie’s tonic pupil. On subsequent laboratory testing, he was found to have neurosyphilis. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated enhancement of the right oculomotor nerve. This case underscores the importance of considering this diagnosis in patients with acute onset internal ophthalmoplegia and hypersensitivity to dilute pilocarpine, even in the absence of other oculomotor nerve findings.

PURPOSE OR REVIEW: To conduct a concise review of primary research articles over the preceding year on the subject of the consequences of waiting for cataract surgery. Waiting for cataract surgery beyond 6 months may result in increasing vision loss, decrease in quality life, loss of driver's license, depression and adverse events including falls and fractures. The consequences of waiting for cataract surgery not only affect patients, families and surgeons, but also health ministries and public health policy makers. Consequences are both quantitative and qualitative in nature, ranging from progressive vision loss to patients' decrease in quality of life from factors other than vision loss. Cataract wait lists are not unique to North America, and numerous international articles have described a broad variety of consequences. Consequences of waiting for cataract surgery are multivariate in nature and easily extend beyond the clinical setting into sociodemographic realms and public health costs and policy arenas.

The technique of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) has been used with very encouraging results in the treatment of all degrees of myopia and also shows considerable promise in the treatment of hyperopia. Compared with photorefractive keratectomy, LASIK is advantageous in causing minimal postoperative discomfort, in its rapid recovery of clear vision and stabilization of refractive change, in the infrequent occurrence of haze, and in its greater facility in correcting high degrees of myopia. However, LASIK is the more surgically demanding technique. We discuss our own experience with LASIK as well as published data from other centers. We anticipate that LASIK will continue to increase in importance in the surgical correction of refractive error.