Sila Bal, MD, MPH, welcomes Daniel S. Choi, MD, to discuss the case of a 65-year-old woman with Fuchs endothelial dystrophy who was interested in a corneal transplant. Dr. Choi outlines the surgical steps and indications for penetrating keratoplasty (PKP), Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK), and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK). He also explains the potential postoperative complications one might experience following each procedure and reveals how he would approa...
Jan 18, 2023•37 min
In this special live episode of Pupil Pod, hosted by YoungMD Connect, Sila Bal, MD, MPH, and Brent Kramer, MD, reviewed the unique case of an 18-year-old woman with decreased vision and recurrent corneal erosion as a manifestation of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)—a degenerative nerve condition. Dr. Kramer outlined his approach to the case, including the diagnostic testing he performed, and explained the pathogenesis and causes of neurotrophic keratitis (NK) and the association between NK...
Dec 13, 2022•24 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, invites David Khorram, MD, to discuss his experiences in global ophthalmology and how health care workers in remote regions of low- to middle- income countries treat ophthalmic patients. Dr. Khorram shares insights into the epidemiology of trachoma and how it is transmitted and treated. He also explains the advantages of performing manual small-incision cataract surgery over extracapsular cataract extraction in regions without access to phacoemulsification.
Jun 13, 2022•29 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, is joined by Neda Shamie, MD, to discuss the demographics and risk factors for the development of keratoconus and the genetic predisposition, environmental risk factors, and clinical manifestations of the disease. Dr. Shamie also shares expert insight into treatment approaches for each stage of keratoconus severity.
May 10, 2022•36 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, welcomes Amenze Osa Oriaifo, MD, to the Pupil Pod to discuss the potential risk factors for patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), ocular hypertension, and normal-tension glaucoma. Dr. Osa shares findings from the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial on the effectiveness of lowering IOP for patients with new POAG and results from the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study. The two physicians discuss how these findings should apply to patients’ cases to prevent glaucoma progre...
Apr 11, 2022•14 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, continues her discussion with guest Elizabeth Shanika Esparaz, MD, in the second of a two-part episode of Pupil Pod’s diabetic retinopathy series. In the previous episode, Drs. Bal and Esparaz broke down the risks associated with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). This episode dives into the take-home points and clinical applications from the Diabetic Retinopathy Study and other research, and Dr. Esparaz shares her approach to treating patients with high-risk PDR and cl...
Mar 08, 2022•14 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, welcomes Jesse L. Berry, MD, to the Pupil Pod to discuss a complicated case of a 14-month-old patient who presents to the clinic with strabismus and leukocoria. Together, Drs. Bal and Berry run down the differences between heritable and nonheritable retinal diseases and provide a deep dive on the methods for identifying, treating, and managing retinoblastoma.
Feb 10, 2022•28 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, and Eric Gaier, MD, PhD, discuss a case of a 4-year-old girl with mydriasis, ocular pain, and vision loss. The physicians provide tips for identifying neuro-ophthalmic diseases that can lead to vision loss before examining treatments for third nerve palsy.
Jan 17, 2022•27 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, welcomes Neda Shamie, MD, to the Pupil Pod to discuss lens selection for a patient prior to cataract surgery. The pair review the Helmholtz accommodation theory, patient selection for the different types of IOLs, advancements in presbyopia treatment, and more.
Dec 21, 2021•33 min
Sila Bal, MD, MPH, welcomes Neda Nikpoor, MD, to the Pupil Pod to discuss some of the criteria when screening a patient prior to refractive surgery. Drs. Bal and Nikpoor discuss the most important parts of a patient’s social and medical history prior to operation, the risks which may present when operating on patients with preexisting ocular conditions, and other crucial conversations to have with patients before LASIK.
Nov 08, 2021•21 min
In this first of a two-part episode, Sila Bal, MD, MPH, is joined by Elizabeth Shanika Esparaz, MD, to discuss a 25-year-old newly diagnosed diabetic patient who experienced blurry vision and two episodes of subconjunctival hemorrhages in the 2 months prior. Drs. Bal and Esparaz walk through their initial screening process for patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and provide answers for some of the common questions asked by newly diagnosed diabetic patients.
Aug 12, 2021•15 min
In the debut episode of Pupil Pod, Sila Bal, MD, MPH, asks Alison Early, MD, to discuss the case of a patient who presented with a complaint of blurry vision 2 months after uncomplicated cataract surgery. Dr. Early describes the workup she performs in this situation when reassessing a patient and some of the potential diagnoses she considers initially.
Jul 19, 2021•13 min
