Flashes, Floaters and Blurring

An interactive webinar by a specialist ophthalmologist from the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, for GPs to improve their knowledge and skills in the assessment of patients with visual flashes, floaters, blurring and loss.

A 60-minute interactive lecture style presentation for GPs and GP registrars.

A/Prof Penelope Allen, an ophthalmologist who works at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, will present her insights to GPs about how to assess and manage patients with visual flashes, floaters, blurring and loss. This will include visual assessment and investigation, and cover how quickly do patients need to be referred for various symptoms and likely causes.

A/Prof Allen will cover a variety of causes including:

• retinal tear and detachment
• retinal vein and artery occlusion
• posterior uveitis
• central serous retinopathy
• optic neuritis
• acute glaucoma
• epiretinal membrane, macular holes and more.

Speaker

A/Prof Penelope Allen is an Ophthalmologist at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. She completed her medical degree at the University of Melbourne and did her initial surgical training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, prior to specialising in Ophthalmology at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. There she also completed a fellowship in Medical Retina and Vitreoretinal. Following this she completed a fellowship in Vitreoretinal surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

Her current hospital appointment is to the Vitreoretinal Unit at the RVEEH and she was appointed Head of the Vitreoretinal Unit at the Royal Victorian Eye and Hospital in 2018. Previous hospital appointments include the Medical Retina Unit at RVEEH and the Alfred Hospital. Her research interests include retinal prostheses, endophthalmitis and Vitreoretinal surgery. She was the leader of the Surgical team for Bionic Vision Australia 2010-2017, leading two clinical trials of the suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis and is a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Eye Research Australia where she continues her research interests

Learning outcomes:

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• outline the assessment of patients with visual flashes, floaters, blurring and loss, including potential causes
• describe referral pathways and how quickly the patient needs to be referred to specialist services
• describe key factors on history and examination to differentiate between possible causes.