| Term | Definition |
|---|
| amblyopia | reduced vision in an eye not correctable by a manifest refraction and with no obvious pathologic or structural cause. |
| anisometropia | an abnormal ocular condition characterized by a difference in the refractive powers of the eyes |
| arcus senilis | an opaque ring, gray-to white in color that surrounds the periphery of the cornea. It is caused by deposits of cholesterol in the cornea or hyaline degeneration and occurs primarily in older persons. Also called gerontoxon |
| astigmatism | an abnormal condition of the eye in which the light rays cannot be focused clearly in a point on the retina because the spheric curve of the cornea or lens in not equal in all meridians. Vision is typically blurred; in uncorrected, it often results in visual discomfort or asthenopia The person cannot accommodate to correct the problem. The condition usually may be corrected with contact lens or with eye glasses ground to neutralize the condition. |
| Brushfield's spots | pinpoint white or light yellow spots on the iris of a child with Down Syndrome. Occasionally they are seen in normal infants |
| cataract | an abnormal progressive condition of the lens of the eye, characterized by loss of transparency. A gray-white opacity can be observed within the lens, behind the pupil. Most cataracts are caused by degenerative changes. The tendency to develop cataracts in inherited. Trauma such as puncture wound may result in cataract formation; less often, exposure to such poisons as dinitrophenol or naphthalene causes them. Congenital cataracts are usually hereditary but may be caused by viral infection during the first trimester of gestation. If cataracts are untreated, sight is eventually lost. At onset vision is blurred; then bright lights glare diffusely, and distortion and double vision may develop. Uncomplicated cataracts of the old age (senile cataracts) are usually treated with excision of the lens and either surgical insertion or an intraocular lens or prescription of special contact lenses or glasses. The soft cataracts of children and young adults may be either incised and drained or fragmented by ultrasound |
| chorioetinitis | an inflammatory condition of the choroid and retina of the eye, usually as a result of parasitic or bacterial infection. It is characterized by blurred vision, photophobia, and distorted images |
| ciliary injection | peripheral hyperemia of the anterior ciliary vessels which produces a deep red or rose color of the corneal stroma, and must be distinguished from hyperemia of the conjunctival vessels. May spread to the perilimbic corneal tissue. Called also ciliary flush. |
| coloboma | a congenital or pathologic defect in the ocular tissue of the body, usually affecting the iris, ciliary body, or choroid by forming a cleft that extends inferiorly. Colobomas are usually the result of the failure of-part of the fetal fissure to close |
| conjunctivitis | inflammation of the conjunctiva, caused by bacterial or viral infection, allergy, or environmental factors. Red eyes, thick discharge, sticky eye lids in the morning, and inflammation without pain are characteristic results of the most common cause, bacteria. The cause may be found by microscopic examination or bacteriologic culture of the discharge. Choice of treatment depends on the causative agent and may include antibacterial agents, antibiotics, or corticosteroids. Also called pink eye |
| corneal scar | (from internet) occurs with injury to the cornea. Scars leave opaque areas, causing the corneal to lose its clarity and luster. |
| cotton wool patches | Book definition: Soft exudates (or "cotton wool" areas) look like fluffy gray –white cumulus clouds. They are arteriolar microinfarctions that envelop and obscure the vessels. They occur with diabetes, hypertension and lupus. (pg. 341) |
| diplopia | double vision caused by defective function of the extraocular muscles or a disorder of the nerves that innervate the muscles. Also called ambiopia |
| discoloration | a soiled or discolored appearance |
| drusen bodies | (drusen): small yellowish hyaline deposit that develop beneath the retinal pigment epithelium sometimes appearing as nodules within the optic nerve head. They tend to occur most frequently in persons older than 60 years of age |
| emmetropia | a state of normal vision characterized by the proper relationship between the refractive system of the eye ball, and its axial length. This correlation ensures that light rays entering the eye parallel to the optic axis are focused exactly on the retina |
| epiphora | (tearing) watering of the eye usually caused by excessive tear production, such as by strong emotion, infection, or mechanic irritation by a foreign body. If the normal amount of fluid tears is produced but not drained into the lacrimal punctum at the nasal border of the eye, tear overflow will occur. If the lacrimal punctum, sac, canaliculi, or nasolacrimal duct becomes blocked, tears also will overflow |
| esotropia | a medical deviation of one eye relative to the other fixating eye. Also called convergent strabismus, convergent squint, and internal strabismus |
| exophthalmos | an abnormal condition characterized by a marked protrusion of the eyeballs, usually resulting from the increased volume of the orbital contents caused by a tumor; swelling associated with cerebral, intraocular, or intraorbital edema or hemorrhage; paralysis of or trauma to the extraocular muscles; or cavernous sinus thrombosis. It may also be caused by endocrine disorders such as hyperthyroidism and Graves' disease, varicose veins within the orbit, or injury to orbital bones. Visual acuity may be impaired in exophthalmia; keratitis, ulceration, infection, and blindness may also occur. Treatment depends on the underlying cause. Acute advanced exophthalmia is often irreversible. Also called protrusion bulbi |
| anopia | blindness resulting from a defect in or an absence of one or both eyes |
| exotropia | a visual disorder a deviating eye looks outward. The eye often is blind or has defective vision. Also called divergent squint, divergent strabismus |
| glaucoma | an abnormal condition of elevated pressure within an eye caused obstruction of the outflow of aqueous humor. Acute (angle-closure, closed-angle, or narrow-angle) glaucoma occurs if the pupil in an eye with a narrow angle between the iris and cornea dilates markedly, causing the folded iris to block the exit of aqueous humor from the anterior chamber. Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is much more common, often bilateral; it develops slowly and is genetically determined. The obstruction is believed to occur within the Schlemm's canal |
| hard exudates | posterior pole of the eye with diabetic macular edema |
| hyperopia/hypermetropia | farsightedness, or an inability of the eye to focus on nearby onjects. It results from an error of refraction in which rays of light entering the eye are brought into focus behind the retina. Also called farsightedness, hypermetropia, hypermetropy |
| hypertelorism | a developmental defect characterized by an abnormally wide space between tow organs or parts. A kind of hypertelorism is ocular hypertelorism |
| hypotelorism | a developmental defect characterized by an abnormally decreased distance between two organs or parts. A kind of hypotelorism is ocular hypotelorism |
| intraocular pressure (IOP) | the internal pressure of the eye, regulated by resistance to the flow of aqueous humor through the fine sieve of the trabecular meshwork. Contraction or relaxation of the longitudinal muscles of the ciliary body affects the size of the opening in the meshwork. In older persons the trabecular meshwork may become sclerotic and obstructed, preventing the normal flow of aqueous humor from passing out at the proper rate and causing an increase in the intraocular pressure |
| Kayser- Fleisher rings | pigmented rings in the peripheral cornea resulting from copper deposition in Descemet's membrane. They are usually brownish or greenish- yellow, encircling the whole cornea |
| myopia | Nearsightedness, the ability to see close objects more clearly than distant objects. It can be caused by a longer-than-normal eyeball or by any condition that prevents light rays from focusing on the retina. You wont be able to see far away w/ clarity |
| nystagmus | Rapid rhythmic repetitious involuntary"(unwilled) eye movement. Nystagmus can be horizontal, vertical or rotary |
| OD | Abbreviation of "oculus dexter.' Latin for "right eye" (The words "dexterity" and "dextrous" derive from "dexter" since the right hand is usually more skillful than the left.) |
| OS | Abbreviation of "oculus sinister." Latin for left eye." |
| OU | Abbreviation for "both eyes" |
| perforation | a hole or opening made through the entire thickness of a membrane or other tissue or material |
| periorbital | Situated around the orbit of the eye |
| pinguecula | A yellow spot on the white of the eye, usually toward the inside (nose side) of the eye, associated with aging. It looks fatty (in Latin the word pinguiculus means fattish), and is due to an accumulation of connective tissue |
| presbyopia | The loss of the eyes ability to change focus to see near objects. Presbyopia is associated with aging. It occurs in everyone. The first sign is often the need to hold reading material farther away. Greek word for 'elderly vision" |
| pterygium | is a raised, wedge-shaped growth of the conjunctiva. It is most common among those who live in tropical climates or spend a lot of time in the sun. Symptoms may include irritation, redness, and tearing. Pterygiums are nourished by tiny capillaries that supply blood to the tissue |
| strabismus | A condition in which the visual axes of the eyes are not parallel and the eyes appear to be looking in different direction. Danger with strabismus is the brain cones may come to rely more on one eye than the other and that part of the brain circuitry connected to the less-favored eye fails to develop properly, leading to amblyopia (blindness) in that eye |
| subconjunctival hemorrhage | occurs when a small blood vessel under the conjunctiva breaks and bleeds. It may occur spontaneously or from coughing, heavy lifting, or vomiting. In some cases, it may develop following eye surgery or trauma. Subconjunctival hemorrhage tends to be more common among those with diabetes and hypertension |
| trachoma | A chronic inflammatory eye disease due to infection with a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis. Trachoma results in blindness so frequently that it places a huge burden a year on world health funding. |
| blepharitis | Inflammation of the eyelids occurs in two forms, anterior and posterior: anterior blepharitis affects the outside front of the eyelid, where the eyelashes are attached. The two most common causes of anterior blepharitis are bacteria (Staphylococcus) and scalp dandruff Posterior blepharitis affects the inner eyelid (the moist part that makes contact with the eye) and is caused by problems with the oil (meibomian) glands in this part of the eyelid. Two skin disorders can cause this form of blepharitis: rosacea and dermatitis of the scalp |
| blepharospasm | Involuntary forcible closure of the eyelid. The first symptom |
| chalazion | A cyst of the little glands in the eyelids that make a lubricant which they discharge through tiny openings in the edges of the lids. The lubricant is a fatty substance called sebum characteristic of sebaceous glands. The word "chalazion" is Greek for small pimple. Like a pimple, a chalazion is an inflamed swelling. But instead of being on the skin, it is in the margin of the eyelid |
| closure/position | availability of eyelid to open and close completely |
| coloboma | A congenital malformation (birth defect) in which part of the eye does not form due to failure of fusion of an embryonic feature called the intraocular fissure. The resultant coloboma can be likened to a missing slice from a pie that may involve a number of different structures within the eye including the choroid, iris, lens, optic nerve, and retina. (Cat Eye) |
| dacryocystitis | an infection of the tear sac that lies between the inner corner of the eyelids and the nose. It usually results from blockage of the duct that carries tears from the tear sac to the nose. |
| ectropion | a medical condition in which the eyelid turns outwards |
| entropion | Inversion or turning inward of a part: The infolding of the margin of an eyelid |
| herniated fat | fat accumulated in either upper or lower lid |
| hordeolum | A suppurative inflammation of a gland or hair follicle of the eyelid, synonym- sty' |
| lid sag | when the upper or lower lid sag, usually due to aging. |
| palpebral fissures | The opening for the eyes between the eyelids |
| ptosis | an abnormal condition of one or both upper eyelids in which the eyelid droops because congenital or acquired weakness of the levator muscle or paralysis of the third cranial nerve. |
| xanthelasma | soft, raised yellow plaques occurring on the lids at the inner canthus. They commonly occur around the fifth decade of life and more frequently in women. They occur with both high and normal blood levels of cholesterol and have no pathologic significance |
| phthiriasis | Infestation of pubic lice; Infestation of eyelashes with pubic lice is called phthriasis palpebrarum |
| Adie's pupil | an abnormal condition of the eyes marked by one pupil that reacts much more slowly to light changes or to accommodation or convergence than the pupil of the other eyes |
| anisocoria | an inequality of the diameter of the pupils of the two eyes |
| Argyll Robertson pupil | a pupil that constricts on accommodation but not in response to light. It is most often seen with miosis and in advanced neurosyphilis |
| blindness | the absence of sight. The term may indicate a total loss of vision or may be applied in a modified manner to describe certain visual limitations |
| dilated/fixed | to cause a physiologic increase in the diameter of a body opening, blood vessel, or tube, such as the widening of the pupil of the eye in response to decreased light |
| Horner's syndrome | a neurologic condition characterized by miotic pupils, ptosis, and facial anhidrosis, which results from a lesion of the spinal cord, with damage to a cervical nerve or any ascending part of the sympathetic outflow to the face/head |
| hyphema | a hemorrhage into the anterior chamber of the eye, usually caused by a blunt trauma |
| hypopyon | an accumulation of pus in the anterior chamber of an eye, which appears as a whitish or gray fluid between the cornea and the iris. It may occur as a complication of a penetrating wound to the eye |
| miosis | contraction of the sphincter muscle of the iris, causing the pupil to become smaller |
| mydriasis | dilation of the pupil of the eye caused by contraction of the dilator muscle of the iris, a muscular sheath that radiates-outward like the spokes of a wheel from the center of the iris around the pupil |
| oculomotor nerve paralysis | loss of function of one of the pair of cranial nerves essential for eye movements, supplying certain extrinsic and intrinsic eye muscles. |
| unreactive | not reacting |
| blink | an automatic closure of the eyelid whe1 an object is perceived to be rapidly approaching the eye. |
| consensual | pertaining to a reflex action in which stimulation of one body part results in a response in another |
| direct | to regulate the course of control |
| PERRLA | abbreviation for pupils equal, round, react of light, accommodation. in the process of performing an assessment of the eyes one evaluates the size and shape of the pupils, their reaction to light, and their ability to accommodate |
| accommodation | 1. the state or process of adapting or adjusting one thing or set of things to another 2. the adjustment of the eye to variations in distance |
| cover-uncover test | A test to detect strabismus in which one eye focusing on a given point is covered; if the uncovered eye moves, strabismus is present |
| extraocular movements (EOMs) | (muscles)- (EOM5) the six sets of muscles that control movements of the eyeball |
| Hirschberg | A method of measuring the amount of deviation of a strabismic eye, by observing the reflection of a light fixated by the straight eye on the cornea of the deviating eye |
| Ishihara plates | a test of color vision that uses a series of plates on which are printed round dots in a variety of colors and patterns. People with normal color vision are able to discern specific numbers or patterns on the plates; the inability to pick out a given number or shape is symptomatic of a specific deficiency in color perception |
| Rosenbaum chart | a chart used to measure visual acuity |
| Snellen chart | one of the several charts used in testing visual acuity. Letter, numbers, or symbols are arranged on the chart in decreasing size from top to bottom |
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