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Purpose: In early 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the disease COVID-19, caused by a new variant of coronavirus 2019-nCoV as a global pandemic. The government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, limiting movement of people as a preventive measure. This survey was designed and conducted during the lockdown period to assess its effect on ophthalmic practice and patient care in India. Methods: An online survey was sent across to practicing Indian ophthalmologists across through various social media platforms. All valid responses were tabulated and analyzed. Results: A total of 1260 ophthalmologists responded to the survey. Most of the respondents (775/1260; 61.5%) were in private practice and 14.8% (187/1260) were affiliated to ophthalmic institutes. At the time of taking the survey, 72.5% of the respondents (913/1260) were not seeing any patients due to the lockdown. Of those who were still examining patients, 82.9% (287/347) were only seeing emergency cases, based on their own clinical judgement. The proportion of ophthalmologists in ophthalmic institutes, government and municipal hospitals (126/253;49.8%) who were still seeing patients was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) than those in private practice (174/775;22.4%). Apart from emergencies such as trauma, retinal detachment, and endophthalmitis (81.8%), other surgeries that were still being performed included intravitreal injections (9.1%) and cataract surgeries (5.9%). Approximately, 77.5% (976/1260) of the respondents had begun telephonic/e-mail/video consultations or consultations over social media applications since the lockdown began. In addition, 59.1% (745/1260) felt that ophthalmologists were potentially at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to other specialties while examining patients. When asked about the resumption of practice upon easing off of the restrictions, 57.8% (728/1260) of the respondents said they were unsure of when to resume elective surgeries; furthermore, 62.8% (791/1260) were unsure about the preferred screening strategy or precautionary approach prior to resuming surgeries and were awaiting guidelines. Conclusion: Our survey shows that majority of ophthalmologists in India were not seeing patients during the COVID-19 lockdown, with near-total cessation of elective surgeries. Emergency services were still being attended to by 27.5% of ophthalmologists who responded. A large proportions of ophthalmologists had switched over to telephonic advice or other forms of telemedicine to assist patients. Most of the responding ophthalmologists were unclear about when and how to resume surgeries upon easing off of the COVID-19 related restrictions. Regulatory bodies should take note of this and issue appropriate guidelines regarding the same.

Purpose: In 2020, in response to the emergence and global spread of the disease COVID-19, caused by a new variant of coronavirus 2019-nCoV, the government of India ordered a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, which was then extended to a total of over 50 days. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of the lockdown on ophthalmic training programs across India. Methods: An online survey was sent across to trainee ophthalmologists across India through various social media platforms. Results: In all, 716 trainees responded; the average age was 29.1 years. Results showed that majority of the respondents were enrolled in residency programs (95.6%; 685/716) and the others were in fellowship programs. About 24.6% (176/716) of the trainees had been deployed on 'COVID-19 screening' duties. Nearly 80.7% (578/716) of the trainees felt that the COVID-19 lockdown had negatively impacted their surgical training. Furthermore, 54.8% (392/716) of the trainees perceived an increase in stress levels during the COVID-19 lockdown and 77.4% (554/716) reported that their family members had expressed an increased concern for their safety and wellbeing since the lockdown began. In all, 75.7% (542/716) of the respondents felt that online classes and webinars were useful during the lockdown period. Conclusion: Our survey showed that majority ophthalmology trainees across the country felt that the COVID-19 lockdown adversely affected their learning, especially surgical training. While most found online classes and webinars useful, the trainees' perceived stress levels were higher than normal during the lockdown. Training hospitals should take cognizance of this and reassure trainees; formulate guidelines to augment training to compensate for the lost time as well as mitigate the stress levels upon resumption of regular hospital services and training. Going ahead, permanent changes such as virtual classrooms and simulation-based training should be considered.

Purpose: To assess the quantum of cataract surgical training opportunities for trainees enrolled in ophthalmology residency programs in India. Methods: An anonymous online survey was sent across to resident ophthalmologists across India through various social media platforms. The results were tabulated and analyzed. Results: A total of 740 resident ophthalmologists participated in the survey. In all, 40.1% (297/740) were independently performing cataract surgeries. Of those who were not performing independent cataract surgeries, 62.5% (277/443) were in the third year of residency. A significantly higher proportion of trainees who were not operating independent cataract surgeries were enrolled in MD/MS programs as compared with DNB courses (65.6% vs. 43.7%; P < 0.0001). Of those who were operating independent cases; 97.1% had exposure to manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS), whereas only 14.1% performed phacoemulsification. It was noted that 31.3% of residents reported that on an average a trainee in their training program performed less than 100 independent cataract surgeries throughout the residency. Apart from cataract surgery, the most performed surgeries by residents were pterygium excision (85.3%), followed by enucleation/evisceration (68.1%). When it came to training aids, 47.2% (349/740) of the respondents reported no access to wet lab, animal/cadaver eyes, or surgical simulators for training. Conclusion: The amount of surgical exposure in terms of cataract surgery across residency programs in India is low with most of the ophthalmology residents who participated in this survey not operating cataracts independently; even in their final year of residency. Exposure to phacoemulsification in residency programs is very limited across the country. Although some programs do provide well-rounded surgical exposure to trainees, such centers are scarce; the stark variations in infrastructure, training opportunities, and surgical numbers warrant an overhaul in the structure and curriculum of residency programs in India.

Coronavirus disease-associated mucormycosis (CAM) is an established clinical entity in India. In the past 4 months, there has been a sharp upsurge in the number of CAM cases in most parts of the country. Early diagnosis can be lifesaving. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging remains the corner stone of management in patients with ROCM. This review discussed the utility of MRI imaging in ROCM with an emphasis on the ideal MRI protocol in a suspected case of ROCM, the pathways of spread of infection, the classic diagnostic features, MRI for staging of the disease, MRI for prognostication, MRI for follow up, and imaging features of common differentials in ROCM. The pit falls of MRI imaging and a comparison of CT and MRI imaging in ROCM are discussed. The clinical interpretation of areas of contrast uptake and those of necrosis and its relevance to treatment are discussed. This review aims to familiarize every member of the multidisciplinary team involved in managing these patients to be able to interpret the findings on MRI in ROCM.

The purpose of this article is to form a basic guide for beginning the cadaver dissection training programs focused on oculoplastic surgical procedures. Ours was a collaborative study between the departments of Ophthalmology and Anatomy in a tertiary care teaching institute. We formed a step-wise approach to begin the cadaver dissection focused on the oculoplastic surgical procedures. The basics of cadaver procurement, processing, and preparation for dissections were described. The operative requirements of trainees, surgical handling of cadavers, and basic oculoplastic surgical steps were discussed. The types of embalming (cadaver preservation process) and steps have been described in detail. We have emphasized the preoperative discussion about the proposed dissections using standard teachings and skull models for easier understanding. Additional helping tools like soft embalming and injectable substances for better intra-dissection understanding (intra-arterial, intravenous and orbital injections) have been described. Post-dissection cadaver handing and soft-tissue disposal protocols have also been described. Overall, the cadaver dissections provide holistic surgical learning for the residents, specialty trainees, and practitioners. This article may act as a basic step-wise guide for starting the cadaver-based oculoplastics lab dissection in various institutes and workshops.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a disease that affects the neuro-muscular junction resulting in classical symptoms of variable muscle weakness and fatigability. It is called the great masquerader owing to its varied clinical presentations. Very often, a patient of MG may present to the ophthalmologist given that a large proportion of patients with systemic myasthenia have ocular involvement either at presentation or during the later course of the disease. The treatment of ocular MG involves both the neurologist and ophthalmologist. Thus, the aim of this review was to highlight the current diagnosis, investigations, and treatment of ocular MG.