omlog: a blog by Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India!

On The Map

Janet Rucker, MD at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, reviewed "The Sankara Nethralaya Atlas of Neuro-Ophthalmology," in the journal of Neuro-ophthalmology vol.24 No.1, Mar 2004. The book is published by: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers(P) Ltd, New Delhi, India, 2003. ISBN:81-8061-042-X.

What follows is an excerpt of the review:

Scope: Founded in 1978, Sankara Nethralaya is a modern non-profit academic institute of ophthalmology in Chennai, India that cares for more than 1000 outpatients per day and employs faculty in 12 ophthalmologic specialties, including five neuro-ophthalmolgists. This multiauthored 240-page atlas, written by the neuro-ophthalmologists from Sankara Nethralaya, is divided into eight color-coded sections encompassing: 1) Afferent Disorders; 2) Efferent Disorders; 3) Congenital Disorders; 4) Infective Disorders; 5) Vascular Disorders; 6) Tumors; 7) Phacomatoses; and 8) Miscellaneous Disorders.

Strengths: width its intense focus on pathologic abnormalities, the book’s disease-based construction allows for quick topic review and expanded reader exposure to challenging diagnostic realities, sure to infuse familiarity in the reader and improve diagnostic recognition and accuracy. Of particular note are the inclusion of some less entities, such as Crouzon’s syndrome and Epidermal Nevus syndrome and an excellent section on common, and not so common, orbital and intracranial tumors with emphasis on neuro-imaging differentiation. The atlas’s greatest strength lies in the superb quality and the range of pathology- at times dramatic- captured in its photographs, the atlas also conveys a unique perspective into neuro-ophthalomology as a specialty in India and the range of pathology routinely encountered in Indian clinical practice.

Weaknesses: The atlas is not intended to provide an extensive review on each topic or to be an all-inclusive textbook. There is some variation in the completeness with which subjects are discussed.

Recommended audience: The appropriate audience for this atlas is medical students and residents, neurologists, neuro surgeons, and ophthalmologists.

Critical Appraisal: The atlas is an enjoyable read, a concise and helpful overview of neuro-ophthalmology whose true value lies in the ample full-color photography and high quality corresponding neuro-images. If offers the students, residents, and practitioner the opportunity to improve diagnostic skills via visual recognition of examination and diagnostic testing abnormalities. Finally, and most uniquely, it provides exceptional insight into neuro-ophthalmology as an international field.

A Kid's Kudos

Four and a half year-old Gayathri presented this (see below) to Sankara Nethralaya's Dr.T. S. Surendran, Director of Paediatric Ophthalmology. Gayathri's squint was corrected thru a surgical procedure by him. There couldn't be a more beautiful thank you card!

L&T Donates 20 lakhs!

Larsen & Toubro Limited, popularly called L&T, is India’s largest engineering & construction company with additional interests in IT, cement and electrical business. L&T is rapidly emerging as a Knowledge-based, premium conglomerate with a global reach. This conglomerate has come forward with a contribution of Rs. 20 Lakhs (Rs. 2 million) in support of the Ocular Pathology Department at Sankara Nethralaya.

Commitment to community welfare & environmental protection constitutes an integral part of their corporate vision. L&T lends invaluable support to Sankara Nethralaya’s pledge "to build a strong and powerful ophthalmic India" and stands out as a shining example for many other companies to follow.

FISH'n For Genes

FISH is an acronym for Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization. The "FISH" work station was inaugurated on Monday, April 12, 2004. Chief guest Dr. R. Kadirvel, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Veterinary & Animal Sciences University and the special invitee Dr. P. Thangaraju, Dean, Madras Veterinary College, marked the formal inauguration by lighting of the traditional Kuthuvilakku. Dr. Lingam Gopal, Dr. S.B. Vasanthi, Ms. K. Padmini (Dr. GKM’s wife) and Ms. V. Lakshmi also assisted at the event.

Over 100 delegates from different hospitals, organizations, colleges and members of the media attended a meeting that followed the inaugural function. Mr. V.L. Ramprasad presented an outline of the activities of the Genetics Department. Dr. G. Kumaramanickavel, Reader and Head of the Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology introduced the FISH workstation and its application in Research and Diagnostics. The use of FISH is growing rapidly in cytogenetics, tumor biology, prenatal research, genomics, radiation labels, gene mapping and basic biomedical research. This instrument will be used in the Retinoblastoma project funded by Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi.

India has the highest incidence of Retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer. Even though there are centres in various parts of the world to detect this genetic problem at an early stage by molecular laboratory methods, such facilities are not available in this part of the world. Sankara Nethralaya will establish a world-class retinoblastoma genetic diagnostic centre, which will serve and help the families faced with the disease to alleviate their suffering. This diagnostic centre will conduct comprehensive laboratory tests like cytogenetic, molecular cytogenetic, FISH, gene screening, LOH and methylation. Dr. Kumaramanickavel reports that such a comprehensive laboratory to the best of his knowledge did not exist anywhere else in the world. 

Dr. Kadirvel in his talk praised the quality of the work being conducted at the institution and the development of infrastructure in Sankara Nethralaya. He said it meets international standards. He specially congratulated Dr. G. Kumaramanickavel for procuring the FISH microscope for the institution.
 
Indeed, it is an asset to harness state of the art, frontier technology to help us achieve our goal – total committed service to the nation's blind.