This photograph shows an eye suffering from hurricane keratophathy. This occurs as a result of several medications (such as amiodarone) that deposit in the corneal surface. Other names for this finding are verticillata or whorl keratophathy because of the distinctive pattern of deposition.

These deposits are microscopic, and are usually only seen under the microscope as in this photograph. To gain a greater feel how this actually looks, you may want to watch our hurricane keratopathy video.

This cornea has a subtle finding of linear deposits on the surface epithelium. This is called whorl keratopathy (also known as hurricane keratopathy or verticillata) and occurs secondary to several medications. This finding is usually subtle, and doesn’t seem to cause any visual symptoms.

To see what this looks like, you may want to watch our whorl keratopathy video from which this snapshot was taken.

This photo shows a cornea with whorl deposits on the surface. This is called verticillata, and can be seen with the use of medications like amiodarone.

To get a better idea how this looks (it’s a subtle finding that’s not easy to photograph) you may want to watch our verticillata video from which this snapshot was captured.

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This video shows a cornea with amiodarone verticillata deposits. You can see these as a whorl pattern - the entity is also called whorl keratopathy or hurricane keratopathy. These deposits are benign, difficult to see, and rarely (if ever) have any visual significance.

Drugs that can cause this pattern: CACTI Mneumonic: chloroquine, amiodarone, chlorpromazine, tamoxifen, indomethacin.

In addition, you can presumably get a similar pattern with amodiaquine, meperidine, and with Fabry’s disease.

Download this video for powerpoint

To download this video, right click on a link below and choose “Save Target As…”

verticillata.wmv (3.5 meg, Windows video file)
verticillata.wmv (Quicktime format coming soon)

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Thumbnails (click to enlarge photo)

So, just how good is the resolution on your new iPhone? Well, here’s your chance to find out … with a portable eye chart! The incredibly high resolution of the iPhone’s LCD screen makes it an excellent tool for checking vision! On this page you’ll find an eye chart that you can “install” on your new phone.

Some advantages to this chart:
1. Patient isn’t confused about “which line to read.”
2. Backlighting forgoes need for flashlight and helps with pinhole pam
3. The phone is harder to loose than a near card
4. This is another good excuse to buy that iPhone

I’ve calibrated the letter sizes directly from a Rosenbaum screening card. You can see the Snellen and Jaeger acuity in the bottom right corner of every photo. The resolution of the ipod screen limits the best near acuity to about 20/25, which is still pretty impressive! See it in action with this movie:

To download these pictures, right-mouse click on each of the photos below (go in order) and choose “save target as …” to download them onto your computer. Then, import them onto your iphone and view then through your image browser!

A near card like this is normally held at about 14 inches from the eyes … a 90 degree bend at your elbow should be sufficient.

Related Photos

This photo shows a closeup of the eyephone. The resolution of the LCD is such that a usable eyechart can be created for checking near vision. To see how this works, you may want to watch our short ichart video.

Here you can see an eye chart that has been loaded onto an eyephone for checking vision. The resolution of this amazing phone is about 160 pixels per inch, which is good enough to make a near eye chart. You may want to view our iChart iphone video to see how well this works!

This photograph shows an iPhone with a case mate leather case. The resolution on the phone is about 160 pixels per inch, which is fine enough to create a simple eye chart suitable for checking near vision. Check out our iChart video page to see how well this works and download the eyechart photos for yourself.

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This video shows how a contact lens is made … from lathe, to polisher, to sterilization. The process is more involved than you might think, though disposable lenses must be more automated then what’s seen here. Interesting how topography is used to check the surface of the lens.

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This video shows how prosthetic eye inplants are created. Typically, after the eye has healed from an enucleation, the conformer is replaced by the prosthesis by an ocularist. An interesting video on the artistry behind these devices.