Prospective study of the sensitivity of the Wood's lamp for common eye abnormalities.
Emerg Med J
; 36(3): 159-162, 2019 Mar.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30630841
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The Wood's lamp, a handheld instrument that uses long-wave ultraviolet (UV) light with magnification of 2-3 times, is commonly used by non-ophthalmologists for examining patients with eye complaints. The goal of current research was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the Wood's lamp for common eye abnormalities. STUDYDESIGN:
We examined a convenience sample of patients, 18 years of age and older, who presented for eye complaints to an urgent clinic of a large ophthalmology practice. This prospective observational trial was performed from December 2016 until July 2017. An ophthalmologist examined the patient's eyes with a Wood's lamp, followed by examination of the eyes using a slit lamp. The Wood's lamp was compared with the slit lamp, which served as the gold standard.RESULTS:
There were 73 patients recruited. The mean age of study subjects (29 female and 44 male) was 49 years. The overall sensitivity of the Wood's lamp was 52% (38/73; 95% CI 40% to 64%). Based on the principal final diagnosis made with the slit lamp, the Wood's lamp only detected 9 of 16 corneal abrasions, 5 of 10 corneal ulcers, 5 of 9 corneal foreign bodies, 0 of 4 cases of non-herpetic keratitis, 1 of 2 cases of herpes keratitis, 1 of 5 rust rings and 18 of 28 other diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Examination using the Wood's lamp fails to detect many common eye abnormalities. Our findings support the need for a slit lamp examination of patients with eye complaints whenever possible.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Anormalidades do Olho
/
Equipamentos para Diagnóstico
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Emerg Med J
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA DE EMERGENCIA
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos