By Sarah Chua Li Xuan, Pre-University Student

Dr Sanjay Srinivasan is a Consultant Ophthalmologist in the Uveitis & Ocular Immunology Service, Narayana Nethralaya Eye Hospital, Bangalore, India. He has more than 20 years of clinical experience since his graduation from medical school and is passionate about education on preventable causes of blindness. He was invited to give a Special Guest Lecture titled “Ocular Inflammation – What You Should Know and When to Refer” to practising optometrists and opticians at the TK Low Academic Specialist Centre in Farrer Park Hospital, Singapore on 14 January 2020.

Inflammatory eye conditions are characterised by swelling of parts of the eye such as the uvea which could damage eye tissues. This could potentially cause severe vision loss or even blindness. Dr Srinivasan began his talk by discussing the importance of history taking when it comes to uveitic and inflammatory conditions of the eye. This would give primary eye care practitioners more information for a better targeted treatment. He then screened a video on the signs of inflammation and taught the audience ways to recognise clinical signs with commonly available ophthalmic instruments. Through early detection, diagnosis and treatment of such conditions, many can be saved from having impaired vision.

Thereafter, Dr Sanjay discussed ophthalmic manifestations post fever where patients could experience problems in their vision after having a fever. It is a topic most relevant in Singapore and India, and there are many reports regarding this topic in Indian medical journals. He shared his experience with the audience on how to recognise ophthalmic manifestations post fever and when to refer such cases appropriately.

Dr Sanjay’s lecture also touched on retinal imaging, which can be used by primary eye care practitioners to detect eye conditions. In this section, he explored mostly non-invasive tools used in retinal imaging including wide-field fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography (OCTA), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), multicolour imaging and adaptive optics.

Dr Sanjay’s talk was well-received by the participants who appreciated his taking time to share his clinical experience with Singapore eye care practitioners.