Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology is the area of clinical medicine studying illnesses of an eyeball and its appendages (eyelids, plaintive bodies and a mucous membrane - conjunctive), tissue, surrounding an eye, and the bone structures forming an eye-socket. Acquaintance to an originality of a structure and development, function of organ of vision, and also with first attributes of eye diseases, will help to address in due time for the qualified help, and in some cases to render it to itself to keep a unique on the importance sense organ, giving to us 80 % of the information on world around! For diagnostics of ophthalmologic illnesses is used the set of various special methods of research. Now the oculist in the work uses perimeter, ophthalmoscope, a slot-hole lamp, a tonometer, гониоскоп, tables for definition of visual acuity and colour sensation, ultrasonic and the electrophysiological equipment, devices for an estimation of blood and intraocular liquid circulation. With the help of these methods the ophthalmologist can define rather precisely visual functions and physiological parameters of an eye, visually estimate condition of its tissue and formations, to observe pathological processes, etc. The abundance of methods is explained by variety of functions of an eye and its availability for supervision. The variety of methods of research and their high resolution allows to ophthalmologists to distinguish rather precisely pathologies at the majority of patients. To establish the diagnosis essentially helps also detailed interrogation of the patient. The number of nasal forms of an eye pathology is extremely great. Such variety is connected to participation in formation of organ of vision of the most different tissues and cellular elements, features of each formation and each environment separately, the big damageability of an eye external and internal factors. Some illnesses meet enough frequently, they are well familiar not only to doctors of other specialities, but even to wide population groups (such as conjunctive, hordeolum, short-sightedness and some other), with others confronts more often the oculist and for their recognition are required special diagnostics methods. Some changes of organ of vision are congenital or in the development differ in chronic flow, resulting to the drastic deterioration of visual functions carrying often irreversible character. To such processes concern anomalies of the optical device of an eye (short-sightedness, long-sightedness, astigmatism, ceratoconus, anisometropia), deterioration of a transparency of photoconductive structures of an eyeball (cataract of a cornea, cataract, destruction of vitreous bodie), trophic age-specific and hereditary illnesses of retina (atherosclerotic age-specific retinal dystrophies, pigmentary degeneration of retina). Functions of organ of vision can suffer owing to the transmitted neurologic diseases (descending atrophy of optic nerves), a diabetes (diabetic retinopathy, recurrent gemophthalm), hypertonic illness, an atherosclerosis, renal pathologies and pathologies of pregnancy, diseases of blood. Organism of the person is a single whole. Therefore besides an isolated eye pathology the organ of vision is exposed to change, at many general and system diseases, which brake its functions. Special group of diseases consist of acute inflammatory processes in different parts of an eyeball, arising not only as the answer to intrusion from the outside pathogenic microorganisms, but also as reaction on available in organism of the patient of the chronic inflammatory centers in the remote bodies (easy, ear, throat, nose, an oral cavity, bilious bubble, kidneys, genitals), and also on a background of rheumatism, tuberculosis, toxoplasmosis, venereal illnesses and virus infection carrier state. The most complicated problems in ophthalmology are also the glaucoma and an eye traumatism. The awareness of the patient on specificity of clinical displays of various glaucoma forms, and also on the hardest consequences, of easy damages (at first sight) of a eyelid skin, superficial wounds of appendages of an eye or a cornea, will help with many cases as a result of duly treatment to keep in the greater volume visual functions, and sometimes even a life. In case of absence of the ophthalmologist at the moment of the reference of the patient in medical establishment first aid in pre-medical volume can render the average medical personnel - to remove painful sensation, to warn deterioration of a local and general condition, infection of wounds, to remove superficially laying alien bodies from conjunctive and corneas (see. Alien bodies of an eye), and also the large particles of the chemical substances which have got in an eye, with the subsequent plentiful washing of conjunctive cavities and to impose various aseptic bandages. Whatever take place to the patient: "mote" in an eye, слезотечение or something another has addressed, the oculist is obliged to check up visual functions, to examine eyes, since the additional device and up to a retina, and at revealing any deviations from norm to examine character of a pathology, to diagnose and appoint treatment. The most often complaints of patients are a pain (in an eye or excentric, i.e. reflected in other organs), lacrimation or occurrence separated, sensation of "mote" in an eye, a photophobia, infringement of sight (reduction in visual acuity, occurrence of "fog" or "iridescent" circles before the eyes, "floating" shadows", "curtains", distortion of the form of subjects, flashes, doubling, sudden loss of sight). At inflammatory and vascular diseases of a retina and an optic nerve there is no painful syndrome, that in many cases explains the later visit of patients to the ophthalmologist. So, at occurrence of acute vascular illness of the retina developing at the moment of hypertonic crisises, the condition of an eye departs as though on the second plan on the background of acute deterioration of the general state of health of the patient. Because function of binocular sight allows to compensate the reduced sight of one eye by good sight of another, and also there is no pain thus, the acute vascular pathology of an eye remains at the first hours and days of disease unnoticed. The forecast of sight of such eye depends on terms of the beginning of intensive therapy. On the other hand, the acute eye pathology can be accompanied by complaints of the patient to deterioration of the general well-being: occurrence of strong headaches, irradiating in area of heart, the left shoulder, under left shoulder blade, in epigastric area and right hypochondrium, a nausea and vomitus, and at ignorance of sequence of stages of development and clinical current of a acute glautomas attack quite often defines the wrong diagnosis, namely: a hypertonic crisis, an attack of a stenocardia, "acute stomach", food toxoinfection. Further, some acute diseases of an eye have a similar complex of symptoms, however differ from each other by objective changes of organ of vision. That is why grows the value of knowledge of the basic eye diseases and necessary methods of first-aid treatment in ophthalmology. Huge value gets self- and mutual aid to the victim at thermal and chemical burns of eyes as time of influence of toxic substances for organ of vision determines weight of burn process flow, expressiveness of complications and the forecast of sight. In other cases self-treatment and later the visit to the oculist can become the reason of significant loss of visual functions. Only the doctor can correctly choose for treatment of the concrete patient necessary medicines from huge number of existing medical means, to take into account their positive and negative influence on an organism, an opportunity of their overlapping with other medical means and individual bearableness of the patient.