Sudden loss of vision

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[kaylichirichard]

Your letter is a very useful reminder of a common and easily missed condition. Standard indirect ophthalmoscopy has virtually no chance of making the diagnosis. So it's always up to the eye doctor or, as we now see, the properly-equipped emergency doctor to spot the diagnosis and save the vision. I congratulate the author and his ER colleagues in advising us about this real advance.

[chansiuwastewart]

I am sincerely grateful for the appreciative comments.

Emergency physicians have come a long way and Hong Kong is now among the most mature countries in the world with respect to emergency medicine specialty development. For those who are interested, the following articles will inform about more applications of emergency department bedside ultrasound that have been or are soon to become reality in everyday practice at the author's institution.

Rotheray KR, Woo WK, Graham CA. An early pregnancy assessment clinic combined with emergency physician ultrasound reduces admissions. Emergency Medicine Australasia 2010; 22:194

Tam MK, Rainer TH. Prognostic value of non-invasive cardiac index measurement in the emergency department using portable continuous wave doppler device (USCOM): a pilot study. Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine 2006;13(4):246

Chan SSW. Emergency bedside ultrasound for the diagnosis of rib fractures. Am J Emerg Med 2009; 27: 617- 620.

Chan SSW. Emergency bedside ultrasound to detect pneumothorax. Acad Emerg Med 2003; 10(1): 91-4.