The imaging revolution

The major advances in ophthalmic imaging that have occurred during the first decades of the 21st century have dramatically changed clinical practice of ophthalmology. Today, it is exceptional to present to an ophthalmologist with a posterior segment condition and not have the eyes evaluated by at least one imaging modality. Even anterior segment disorders are often more fully assessed by imaging. Unlike most other medical specialties, in which solid or fluid tissue samples are readily collected from diseased sites for pathological examination, intraocular biopsy must be carefully considered due to the potentially blinding complications of the surgical procedure. Recent quantum leaps in ophthalmic imaging are allowing ophthalmologists to fill knowledge gaps in understanding a broad range of diseases without the need to breach the eyewall.