ASSESSING EYE ABNORMALITIES

• Hyphema: when injury causes red blood cells to collect in the lower half of the anterior chamber

  
• Hypopyon: inflammatory response in which white blood cells accumulate in the anterior chamber and produce cloudiness in front of the iris

  
• Unilateral blindness: lesion in eye or optic nerve

  
• Bitemporal hemianopia: optic chiasm lesions

  
• Left superior quadrantanopia: partial lesion of temporal loop

  
• Right visual field loss: loss of vision in half of each field

  
• Pseudostrabismus: the pupils will appear at the inner canthus

  
• Strabismus (tropia): A constant malalignment of the eye axis, strabismus is defined according to the direction toward which the eye drifts and may cause amblyopia

  
• Esotropia: eye turns inward

  
• Exotropia: eye turns outward

  
• Phoria (Mild Weakness)

  
• Paralytic Strabismus: the result of weakness or paralysis of one or more extraocular muscles

  
• Ptosis: drooping eye

  
• Ectropion: outwardly turned lower lid

  
• Conjunctivitis: inflammation of the conjunctiva

  
• Exophthalmos: protruding eyeballs and retracted eyelids

  
• Chalazion: infected meibomian gland

  
• Hordeolum: stye

  
• Entropion: inwardly turned lower lid

  
• Blepharitis: eyelid staphyloccal infection

  
• Diffuse episcleritis: sclera inflammation

  
• Subconjunctival hemorrhage: bright red areas of the sclera

  
• Scleral jaundice

  
• Corneal scar

  
• Early pterygium: bulbar conjunctiva thickness extending to the nasal side

  
• Nuclear cataracts: appear gray when seen with a flashlight; they appear as a black spot against the red reflex when seen through an ophthalmoscope

  
• Peripheral cataracts: gray spokes that point inward when seen with a flashlight; they look like black spokes that point inward against the red reflex when seen through an ophthalmoscope

  
• Irregularly-shaped iris: causes a shallow anterior chamber, which may increase the risk for narrow-angle (closed-angle) glaucoma

  
• Miosis: Also known as pinpoint pupils, miosis is characterized by constricted and fixed pupils— possibly a result of narcotic drugs or brain damage

  
• Anisocoria: pupils of unequal size

  • greater in bright light compared with dim light, the cause may be trauma, tonic pupil (caused by impaired parasympathetic nerve supply to iris), and oculomotor nerve paralysis
  • greater in dim light compared with bright light, the cause may be Horner syndrome (caused by paralysis of the cervical sympathetic nerves and characterized by ptosis, sunken eyeball, flushing of the affected side of the face, and narrowing of the palpebral fissure)

  
• Mydriasis: Dilated and fixed pupils, typically resulting from central nervous system injury, circulatory collapse, or deep anesthesia

  
• Papilledema

  Swollen optic disc Blurred margins Hyperemic appearance from accumulation of excess blood Visible and numerous disc vessels Lack of visible physiologic cup

  
• Glaucoma

  • Enlarged physiologic cup occupying more than half of the disc’s diameter Pale base of enlarged physiologic cup Obscured and/or displaced retinal vessels

  
• Optic atrophy: white optic disc; lack of disc vessels

  
• Constricted arteriole: arteriole narrowing; hypertension

  
• Copper wire arteriole: light reflex widening, coppery color; hypertension

  
• Silver wire arteriole: opaque or silver appearance by arteriole wall thickening; long-standing hypertension

  
• Arteriovenous nicking: AV crossing abnormality characterized by vein appearing to stop short on either side of arteriole; Caused by loss of arteriole wall transparency from hypertension

  
• Arteriovenous tapering: AV crossing abnormality characterized by vein appearing to taper to a point on either side of the arteriole; caused by loss of arteriole wall transparency from hypertension

  
• Arteriovenous banking: AV crossing abnormality characterized by twisting of the vein on the arteriole’s distal side and formation of a dark, knuckle-like structure; caused by loss of arteriole wall transparency from hypertension