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Ultrasound biomicroscopy of congenital iris flocculi

minimum temperature, sunshine hours and humidity levels. We have demonstrated a significant relationship between the volume of ophthalmic emergency presentations and daily weather conditions including temperature, sunshine hours and humidity (Table 1). There appears to be a significant seasonal variation which may indirectly support this. As with any retrospective study, one must be cautious against making broad statements of aetiology. Our results show more patients attend the ED over summer; however, many private consulting rooms are also closed over the Christmas and January holiday period, which may filter more patients towards the ED. Conversely, less patients attend the ED on weekends throughout the year, when private rooms are closed, and it could be argued that practice closure decreases ED attendances as fewer patients are referred in. It is also possible that good weather improves a patient’s motivation to seek unscheduled medical care, especially for relatively minor ophthalmic conditions. We developed a multivariate linear regression model to predict attendances to the ED as a function of weather variables, and found that the weather accounts for 5% of the variance in patient volume. Introducing weekends and public holidays as a variable strengthened this, where the model would correctly predict the volume of presentations 28.5% of the time. Calendar variables clearly influence a patient’s decision to present, and taking this into account may allow for more optimal resource allocation. In conclusion, this study revealed that the number of patients attending a specialist ED for ophthalmic conditions is significantly influenced by weather variables. There are likely to be negative health effects as a consequence of climate change, including worsening of food, water and vector-borne diseases. Given our findings that ocular presentations are intimately linked to local weather patterns, we feel the list of human conditions linked to future climatic events should include ocular disease. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT