Scenario
A 65 year old man presents with painless loss of vision in his left eye.
His fundoscopic examination is shown.
Question
a. Describe and interpret his fundoscopic examination. (50%) b. What are the underlying causes of this condition? (50%)
Answer
FACEM VAQ Exam 20095.2 – Question 8
- Overall pass rate for this question was 48/56 (85.7%).
- The image of the retina suggests retinal vein occlusion
- The examiners expected that candidates would highlight in their description the features of central retinal vein occlusion seen in the image such as venous tortuosity and retinal haemorrhages
- The second part of the answer needed to make clear that this was an atherosclerotic/clotting process (and not an embolic one) and as such the causes were the systemic causes of these processes.
- Failing answers did not identify this as a central retinal vein occlusion or incorrectly described it as an embolic phenomenon.
About Mike Cadogan
