Remember, I told you last time on my first post that I basically look at people's eyes and tell them that they are either going blind or their eyes are okay. Well, that's true but sometimes they tell me that they are going blind and in such cases, my job entails agreeing or disagreeing to that.
My day at work usually starts with mundane activities like typing patients' report (Yeah someone had the bright idea of firing my assistant without replacement) making sure the machines and equipment are functioning properly, cross checking lenses fixed by the Optician and so on. Don't get me wrong these activities might sound boring but it actually shapes the days work.
I had just turned on the switch that powers the refraction unit when I heard frantic knocks on the door leading into the consulting room. I had barely responded before I saw Raj, our Indian radiographer, rushing in followed by the two radiologists. He was covering his left eye with a piece of clothe.
"Please help, I'm going blind!", was all he said.
Oh, so it is one of those days, I thought. The man was visibly shaken by whatever informed him of his imminent blindness and this was a slight cause for worry so I made no attempt to rid him of the clothe with which he covered his eye. Perhaps the eye was out of its socket and he was just holding it in place with that fabric. Who knows? I asked what happened.
It turned out that he was not under any threat of blindness neither was he blind when he arrived work this morning. He had a patient that was referred for a CT scan. After operating the machine, he went back to his desk to print stuff from his workstation and realised he could not see the mouse on the desk or anything else for that matter. The experience was so quick and complete that he panicked and screamed. His colleagues came running.
Having established that there was no physical injury and that the eye was in fact, still housed in its socket, I told him to remove the fabric from his eye. His eyes were open and he really could not see well. He admitted he could see with his right eye. I asked him some preliminary questions like if there is any pain, medical history and if he had experienced such incident previously. Then I asked him to read the visual Acuity chart, which surprisingly he read to the standard line. Then I checked his pupils size and reaction, which were normal. I asked him some preliminary questions like if there is any pain, medical history and if he had experienced such incident previously. No, he hadn't.
Lastly I checked the fundus and took the intraocular pressure measurement which were all normal. So what was wrong with Raj's left eye?
Afterimage!
Afterimage (Polish: Powidoki) is a 2016 Polish drama movie directed by Andrzej WajdaI as his last work...
While the above is true, I was only kidding.
An afterimage is an image that continues to appear in one's vision after the exposure to the original image has ceased. An afterimage may be a normal phenomenon (physiological afterimage) or may be pathological (palinopsia). Illusory palinopsia may be a pathological exaggeration of physiological afterimages.
After images occur because photochemical activity in the retina continues even when you are no longer experiencing the original stimulus.
In Raj's case, his eyes and therefore, his retina must have been overexposed to the light of the CT scan machine such that for a few minutes he was able to see only but the white light that had stimulated his retina. Luckily for him, the ophthalmology consultation room was just across the hall from him.
I gave him antiglare lenses and sent him is merry way.
I hope this has been informative for you. I'd like to thank you for reading
