Articles Tagged with Sacramento Eye Injury Lawyer

Traumatic Endophthalmitis

Traumatic Endophthalmitis

Traumatic Endophthalmitis

I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Eye Injury Attorney. Despite recent advances in the treatment of endophthalmitis, infection from penetrating eye trauma continues to present a clinical challenge.  It remains an important cause of vision failure following open globe injuries and may complicate seemingly benign injuries such as small, self-sealing corneal lacerations without associated intraocular damage.  About 62 percent of all cases of endophthalmitis occur after eye surgery, ten percent are associated with planned or inadvertent filtering blebs and the rest are due to metastatic spread from other infected areas.

Although the prognosis has been significantly improved by recent refinements in diagnoses, antibiotic therapy, and vitreous surgery, the overall prognosis of traumatic endophthalmitis remains poor compared to that seen in intraocular surgery.  The reasons for the poor prognosis include associated damage to vital eye structures, infection with extremely virulent organisms, and delay in diagnosis and treatment of the condition. Continue reading ›

Traumatic Optic Neuropathy and Visual System Injury

Traumatic Optic Neuropathy and Visual System Injury

Traumatic Optic Neuropathy and Visual System Injury

I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Eye Injury Lawyer. Eye lesions aren’t the only cause of impaired vision after trauma to the eye.  The optic nerve, optic chiasm, and posterior visual pathways are all vulnerable in patients with open or closed head injuries.  The ophthalmologist, focused on the care of the eye, must nevertheless be prepared to recognize and manage retrobulbar lesions.

One of the clinical advantages of ophthalmology is the ability to visualize most of the eye anatomy just by inspecting the globe.  Unfortunately, with traumatic optic nerve and chiasmal lesions and abnormalities are apt to be situated beyond the reach of a flashlight, slit lamp, and ophthalmoscope.  In cases of neural trauma, the ophthalmologist must be prepared to substitute inference for observation.  Some neural lesions are missed because the ophthalmologist has simply failed to appreciate the possibility that the visual sensory pathway has been damaged behind the eye. This means that no assessment of the posttraumatic visual impairment can be considered complete unless the nerve and chiasm have been properly evaluated.

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