Retinal manifestations of ophthalmic artery occlusion with ischemic stroke in a young patient with COVID-19

COVID-19-associated coagulopathy (CAC) has led to an increase in the incidence of large vessel stroke and cryptogenic shock. We present a case of a 30-year-old COVID-19-positive patient who developed an internal carotid artery (ICA) thrombosis, which led to ischemic stroke, aphasia, and unilateral blindness. Ophthalmic artery occlusion (OAO) was found to be the cause of vision loss. We thereby aim to highlight the detailed ophthalmic manifestations of OAO with features of posterior ciliary artery occlusion (PCAO) in this patient with proven ICA thrombosis.

The quality of online consumer health information at the intersection of complementary and alternative medicine and arthritis

Abstract Background: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is prevalent among patients living with arthritis. Such patients often seek information online, for the purpose of gaining a second opinion to their healthcare provider or even self-medication. Little is known about the quality of web-based consumer health information at the intersection of CAM and arthritis; thus, investigating the quality of websites containing this information was the purpose of this study. Methods: Four unique search terms were searched on Google across four English-speaking countries. We assessed the first 20 results of each search, including them if they contained CAM consumer health information for the treatment and/or management of arthritis. Eligible websites were assessed in duplicate using the DISCERN instrument, which consists of 16-items designed to assess quality. Results: Of total of 320 webpages, 239 were duplicates, and a total of 38 unique websites were deemed eligible and assessed using the DISCERN instrument. The mean summed DISCERN scores across all websites was 55.53 (SD = 9.37). The mean score of the overall quality of each website was 3.71 (SD = 0.63), thus the majority of websites are ranked as slightly above 'fair' quality. Conclusion: Eligible websites generally received scores better than 'moderate' in terms of overall quality. Several shortcomings included a lack of transparency surrounding references used and underreporting of risks associated with treatment options. These results suggest that health providers should be vigilant of the variable quality of information their patients may be accessing online and educate them on how to identify high quality resources.(AU)