Dr. Angelina Popovic, O.D., in Chicago's Southgate office, poses with the Optos® Optomap® scanner that helped identify her patient's medical issue.
Retinal scan helps save a life
One evening, a young college student came into Dr. Angelina Popovic's Visionworks location in the Southgate office in Chicago complaining of a "black fuzzy spot in her left eye." The doctor examined her visual acuity and obtained vision in both eyes. Pretests were all normal, but the doctor knew she needed more information.
After explaining the benefits of an Optomap® retinal scan to the patient, she agreed and the doctor found what looked like a central retinal vein or artery occlusion in the left eye. Due to the amount of hemorrhaging, it was difficult to identify distinctly. Dr. Popovic immediately sent the patient to the local emergency room with a referral and the results of the scan.
A few days later, flowers arrived from the patient's parents, who thanked Dr. Popovic for saving their daughter's life that night. The emergency room doctors told the parents that she could have bled to death in her sleep and diagnosed her with aplastic anemia. After a five-day stay in the hospital, she was able to finish her semester in school and return home for additional testing. Optos' Optomap ultra-wide digital retinal scanners are available at or next to about 300 Visionworks locations, whether the doctors are employed, private corporate doctors or sublease.
Dr. Popovic said, "Our team in the Southgate office is very fortunate to have the Optos technology as a clinically advantageous and valuable means of completing a more elaborate and extensive assessment of the eye."
