Patient History and Ophthalmic Examination Techniques Flashcards

When documenting a patient's chief complaint, which element is MOST important to record first?

Answer: Onset, location, duration, character, and associated symptoms

A thorough chief complaint includes onset, location, duration, character, associated symptoms, relieving/aggravating factors, and prior treatments (OLDCART framework).

During confrontation visual field testing, the examiner's visual field serves as the:

Answer: Control for comparison with the patient's field

Confrontation testing compares the patient's peripheral visual field to the examiner's field, which serves as the normal reference standard.

The cover-uncover test primarily detects which type of ocular deviation?

Answer: Tropia (manifest deviation)

The cover-uncover test detects tropias (manifest strabismus) by observing whether the uncovered eye moves to take up fixation when the fellow eye is covered.

When measuring visual acuity with a Snellen chart at 20 feet, a patient reads the 20/40 line. This means the patient can read at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can read at:

Answer: 40 feet

Snellen notation 20/40 means the patient reads at 20 feet what a normally-sighted person can read at 40 feet, indicating reduced visual acuity.

Amsler grid testing is used primarily to detect defects in which area of the visual field?

Answer: Central 10–20 degrees

The Amsler grid tests the central 10–20 degrees of vision and is sensitive to metamorphopsia and scotomas associated with macular disease.

Which test is used to evaluate the relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD)?

Answer: Swinging flashlight test

The swinging flashlight test compares the direct and consensual pupillary light responses in each eye and detects RAPD when the pupil dilates as the light swings to the affected eye.