One Size Won’t Fit All: Treating Ocular Infection

Due to their complexity and temperament, ocular infections can be a pain to treat. Finding the right antibiotic requires a thorough understanding of the most likely causative organisms, resistance patterns, patient-specific data and pharmacologic information that may impact the patient’s response to the drug. And we have to do it all while the clock is ticking—the earlier treatment begins, the better the prognosis. However, sometimes, less is more. Exercising discretion in situations where the infection is most likely to be caused by a virus, such as in non-purulent infectious conjunctivitis, has been proven to decrease the spread of resistant organisms.

Burning Questions

This 54-year-old man—an industrial worker—experienced an alkali burn while lowering a stainless steel die coated in aluminum particles into a tank containing sodium hydroxide. Though he was wearing safety glasses at the time, some of the liquid splashed into his right eye.

Hold ’em or Fold ’em?

Diagnosis and management of diabetic macular edema (DME) have evolved over the last decade. These advances have given retina specialists and comanaging optometrists more options for management of DME—but also more room for doubt and debate regarding whether, when and how to intervene.

Letters to the Editor

The February 2018 cover story, “How the Diploma Deluge is Reshaping Optometry,” presented comments from educators and data from the Association of Schools and Colleges in Optometry (ASCO) to look at the impact of optometry’s expanded educational footprint. The feature generated criticism, praise and suggestions, some of which is addressed in the following letters and our reply.