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editorial
. 2023 Jun 21;15(6):e40765. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40765

Table 1. Ophthalmology-related prompts and responses from ChatGPT.

  Clinical Educational Research
Prompt What is the patient's differential diagnosis? A 45-year-old female with no significant medical history presented with a chief complaint of blurred vision in her left eye for the past week. Her visual acuity in the right eye was 20/20 and in the left eye was 20/50. Intraocular pressure was measured at 14 mmHg in the right eye and 16 mmHg in the left eye. OCT interpretation revealed thickening of the fovea with intraretinal cysts in the left eye. Fundus imaging showed a normal optic disc, but macular edema with hard exudates in the left eye. Explain amblyopia for an 8-year-old Conduct a literature review on the use of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology.
Response This patient's differential diagnosis could include: Diabetic macular edema: This is a common cause of macular edema and can cause decreased vision in the affected eye. The patient's age and lack of medical history make this a possibility. Cystoid macular edema: This is another cause of macular edema that can be associated with a variety of underlying conditions, including inflammation and certain medications. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD): This is a condition that affects the macula and can cause blurred vision, distortion, or dark spots in the central vision. The patient's age is a risk factor for AMD. Retinal vein occlusion: This occurs when a blood clot or blockage forms in the veins that drain blood from the retina. It can cause blurred vision, and the patient's OCT findings of intraretinal cysts suggest this as a possibility. Macular telangiectasia: This is a rare condition that affects the blood vessels in the macula and can cause decreased vision and distortion. It may be a less likely possibility given the patient's lack of medical history. Further testing, such as fluorescein angiography or other imaging studies, may be necessary to make a definitive diagnosis and determine the appropriate treatment. Treatment options could include laser therapy, intravitreal injections, or other interventions depending on the underlying condition. Amblyopia, also known as "lazy eye," is a condition where one eye doesn't see as well as the other eye. It happens when the brain and the eye are not working together as they should. Amblyopia can happen for different reasons, but one common reason is when one eye is weaker than the other eye. If the weaker eye is not used as much, the brain will start to ignore the signals it gets from that eye. This can make the weaker eye even weaker over time. To help treat amblyopia, doctors will often patch the stronger eye for a few hours each day. This forces the brain to use the weaker eye more, which can help it get stronger. Sometimes, eye drops or glasses can also help. It's important to treat amblyopia as early as possible, because the longer it goes untreated, the harder it is to fix. That's why it's important to have regular eye exams with an eye doctor, even if your eyes seem to be working well. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly utilized in ophthalmology over the past several years. Here is a brief literature review on the use of AI in this field. One area where AI has shown promise is in the detection and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility and accuracy of using AI algorithms to detect DR from retinal images. For example, a study by Ting et al. (2017) developed an AI algorithm that was able to detect referable DR with a sensitivity of 90.3% and specificity of 91.1%. Similarly, a study by Gulshan et al. (2016) developed a deep learning algorithm that achieved a diagnostic accuracy comparable to that of human experts. AI has also been used to detect other retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma. A study by Keel et al. (2019) used a deep learning algorithm to accurately detect AMD from color fundus photographs with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.99. Another study by Li et al. (2019) developed a machine learning algorithm that was able to accurately classify glaucoma and healthy eyes from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images with an AUC of 0.96. In addition to diagnosis, AI has also been used to predict disease progression and treatment outcomes. A study by Asaoka et al. (2019) developed a machine learning algorithm that was able to predict visual field progression in glaucoma patients with an accuracy of 78.1%. Overall, AI has shown promise in ophthalmology for the detection, diagnosis, and prediction of disease progression. However, further studies are needed to validate the clinical utility and effectiveness of these algorithms in real-world settings. Additionally, ethical considerations around the use of AI in medicine need to be carefully addressed, including issues related to data privacy, algorithm transparency, and bias.