CHENNAI: A one-day workshop on neuro-opthalmic disorders was held at the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology in Egmore here on Saturday. The workshop is part of a continuing medical education programme held at least every two months at the institute.

Neurosurgeons and neurophysicians from the Madras Medical College, of which the institute is a branch, addressed students and ophthalmologists. In the afternoon, the students participated in a live interaction. At the workshop, postgraduate ophthalmology students were taught methods of diagnosis, investigation and management of certain eye disorders that may have their origin in the brain.

Among the most common problems that the eye hospital sees are injuries to the optic nerves that carry visual impulses to the brain.

Of the 12 nerves that originate from the brain, three control ocular movement. The nerves may get affected in people with conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, viral infection or trauma. The hospital also treats damage to the ocular canal following an accident.

"Ophthalmologists often come across problems of the eye that have their basis in the brain. The message of this programme is that eye surgeons can also diagnose neurological diseases," said P. Sudhakar, chief of Neuro-ophthalmology and the Squint Clinic at the institute.

The programme also focussed on the various diseases "manifest in the brain and reflected in the eye." Some of the diseases are congenital while others may be caused by trauma, could be cancerous or due to vascular problems. Geetha Lakshmipathy, professor of Neurology, MMC, inaugurated the programme in the presence of dean Kalavathi Ponniraivan. Institute director and superintendent V. Velayutham also spoke.

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