Retina Scan

[Rachel_W]

I have had vertigo since a car accident in 2004 and went to an otolaryngologist.  Through tests they found that I had a slight damage to my vestibular nerve in my right ear.
Just after the accident I went to the doctors for a physical and part of that is a simple eye test where you use your hand to cover one eye.  I noticed that my right eye vision seemed a little strange (not blurred), but thought that it was because I had just covered my eye.  This happened in a subsequent test also.
After my vertigo slowly getting better after rehab, but still getting episodes another doctor thought that my vision should also be tested.  I had a field vision test which was absolutely normal and also an eye exam where I once again noticed this strange vision in my right eye (this time my hand had not been pressing on it).

When I had the physical eye exam by the doctor he said he saw some pigmentation in my eyes and as I was youngish (38), a non-smoker, and no history of MD he was not concerned.  When I got home I was worried about the vision and looked up 'distortion', found an amsler grid and realised that I had central distortion (mainly the dot and just to the left in the first squares).  I panicked and called the clinic and they had me come back in.

They gave me a retina scan and photographed my retinas and told me that they were textbook normal.  They did not seem at all concerned and thought that it was probably due to the accident and at least to them (retina specialists) that my eyes themselves are 100% healthy.

Now it is 1.5 years later and my distorted vision does not seem to be worse, but I have been going through a lot of anxiety and am on the computer a lot due to working on a Master's degree, and I have been reading a lot on the screen which seems worse than just my normal heavy computer use of games or looking at websites).  My eyes have felt strained and tired, like I want to rest them a lot.  I have also been noticing floaters (I have had them in the past and don't know if it is due to me having more anxiety that I am noticing them more?).  I have no vision loss.

I just want to ask.  Would a retina scan have shown something if the pigmentation had been an early sign of an eye disease (not necessarily MD but anything that can cause lesions)?  How sensitive are they to picking up early disease?  

Thanks.

[Rachel_W]

Thank you.  I was just concerned because since then I have been having health anxiety and a few weeks ago I started looking for floaters and since then I keep noticing more (I know that this can often be because when you look for them then you notice them and I remember having similar ones when I was younger because I thought that they were caused by dust on the surface).  It always seems like I have one or two dark ones in my vision, occasionally up to four (and they seem to be in the right eye), however I am pretty sure that if I wasn't worried about them I would not be noticing them as much and I am not getting bright flashes.

I wonder whether using the computer so much could be aggravating their noticeability because my eyes have been feeling very tired over the last few months due to excessive studying online.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Yes the tests you had should detect early disease. Astigmatism of moderate or large amount might cause amsler abnomalities without glasses or contacts.

If everything is stable with amsler its not likely retina disease

JCH JD

[Rachel_W]

also, if for some strange reason astigmatism could be causing the distortion, would they have picked this up?  I am abroad right now studying so would rather not go to a neuro-ophthamologist before I go back home and the distortion is no worse.  But I would rather it be astigmatism perhaps as it may be correctable with contact lenses and I think that my eyes may be getting more strained on the computer as my left eye has to overcompensate and gets tired more.