abnormal Amsler grid but OCT and retinal exam shows nothing

[scheeler]

I had cataract surgery in both eyes in May, and began to notice a slight kink in vertical lines with the right eye. A couple of days ago, I looked at an Amsler grid, and while it was perfect with the left eye, every square was very crooked with the right. I have residual astigmatism, but I was wearing my prescription glasses, so that shouldn't be the cause.

I went to an opthalmologist the next day, who did a dilated examination and an OCT scan. Both found my macula to be perfectly normal. But the Amsler test still shows this distortion (did it 5 mins ago).

My question: in a situation like this, should I just ignore the Amsler result? (I've looked at all the Amsler-related threads in the archive, but none seem to give a definite answer to this question). Thanks.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

good luck JHCH MD

[scheeler]

Many thanks for that very comprehensive reply, Dr Hagan.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

There are other causes which include: 1 your glasses RX is wrong in the abnormal amserl eye 2. you have irregular corneal astigmatism which would require a cornea topography scan to be done 3. you could have cloudiness of the posterior capsule 4. the iol could be rotated on not centered  5. the macular OCT could have been off center and there could be swelling (edema), macular pucker or macular degeneration.

My suggestion would be to start by getting a second opinion from a cornea and IOL specialist Eye MD

JCH MD