A Striking Eye [Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος]

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Among the rolls of film from my freezer that I've gotten processed recently (I've still got a lot of exposed film left to get developed, dating back to 2001) was the one from a couple Balticons ago that included this slide I shot of a very patient person's unusual eye:

Niftycool Eye, thumbnail

Niftycool Eye, large

I've got friends whose eyes have radial stripes, but I don't recall seeing a pattern like this on anyone else. I think it's pretty. Which is why I asked for permission to stick a macro lens in her face.

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There are 33 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

wow. that's amazing.

i love macro shots.

i wish good macro lenses didn't cost an arm and a leg :(

My mother's eyes were similar, but cornflower blue.

How are you feeling?

Wild!

OMG!!!!!!! It DOES look really coool! You did a really good job with this. Caturing it on film like that. *claps*

That's beautiful in a way, but also slightly disturbing. My first thought was that there appears to be an issue of some sort with the tissue/pigmentation. On a whim, because it's the eye disorder, which includes pigmentation problems, that I'm most familiar with, I did a google image search for Pigment Dispersaion Glaucoma (also known as Pigment Dispersion Syndrome). It is exactly that.

I wonder if this person knows, and if you still talk to her to tell her? Untreated, Pigment Dispersion Glaucoma will eventuallly result in blindness due to the build up of pressure. An incredibly easy procedure takes care of it indefinately.

My brother and sister have this disease, if that's what it is. They've been treated for it and the prospects are very good.

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Thanks for confirming my immediate and cynical suspicion -- "Ew. Okay, that's got to be abnormal, and probably symptomatic of some eye disorder or other."

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Ooh, someone else who loves interrobangs‽

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Heh, she is an interrobang. Why I love her, I suppose.

D'G, the print looked more paisley, I think. Even though this should be the same. The impression isn't. For me, anyway.

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Oh, heck, more data poured in. I had no idea this could be a pathology. Were her eyes always this pattern? When did it develop? Questions.. Now I gotta know.

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I agree; the slide and the scan (this was scanned from either the slide or the internegative) has a lot more feeling of depth and layering to them than the print does. I still think this looks sortakinda paisley, but less so than the print does.

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My Slashdot username has been Interrobang for a long time, and I keep the name on various other fora to which I post. I took it because I often have those "?!" moments!

I think the category of "someone else who loves Interrobangs" might apply to some other regulars around these parts, though. ;)

I still can't believe there are people posting on this thread who think that image is beautiful. *shudder* I'm rather revolted by it. People's eyes are not supposed to look like they're overlaid with yellow macrame. That twigs a big phobia of mine, I think.

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That makes a lot of sense.

What does the Hebrew writing on your tshirt mean?

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Ooh, you recognised that it was Hebrew! It says "I'm a freak." :) You can also, IIRC, translate it as "I'm stoned."

I think you're

eviltomble's evil twin or something. You resemble each other, you both are IF programmers, you're both named Thomas, and you're both from England (although, to be fair, EvilTomble is in England). I told EvilTomble that he had some catching up to do, because EvilTomble doesn't have a cute, buxom wife and a kid. *grin* I don't know why he puts up with me. ;)

Do you mind if I add you to my friends list?

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Go ahead! I've added you to mine.

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Damn. I was afraid it would turn out to be a pathology (and did plan to ask whether anyone recognized it now that I've got the film developed, but forgot to d so in my haste to post it tonight). It's not fair that something that pretty is that bad. :-(

I'll probably see her again at a convention sometime -- at least I hope so -- and yes, I will ask whether she already knows this. I hope it's not something that progresses very quickly, 'cause it's already been a couple years and I don't know how long it'll take me to find her. I don't remember whose eye it is!

Does the treatment also make the eye look normal again?

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I'm not sure how quickly it progresses - I only recently learned about it when my in-laws in the UK rang to let us know that two of Marn's siblings were diagnosed with it, and it being a rare thing, they assumed it to be hereditary in some way, and that Marn may have it. They let us know that it was very simple to test for, and if diagnosed, very simple to treat. The only problem is that most people aren't diagnosed with it until there's been some vision loss due to the pressure. And I don't know if there has been some vision loss, if it comes back once the pressure has been released, or if the eye returns to normal looking. My educated guess, based on further research would be 1) it depends on the extent of the pressure in terms of how great, and how long it's persisted, and 2) no, it will continue to look like that because the pigmentation has been lost.

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Um, I disagree.

I am not a doctor or an opthamologist.

But the reason I googled it too is because my normal ocular morphology is a lot like this, but with brown background. The strandy stuff is also present in my eye.

If you look in google, it's true that the first image you get is of an eye that looks similar to this one, but what they're trying to show is the brownish stuff that's only slighly apparent around the outer edges of the iris. THAT's the indication of Pigment Dispersion Glaucoma, not the standy iris morphology.

If you do a lot more looking/skimming (I did so for about 30 minutes), you'll find more intense pictures. One is of a person with brown eyes who has partial arcs around the pupil of chocolate-brown pigment. And you'll find more rerferences to "melted chocolate" as what the pigments in question look like.

I don't think this person's sick at all.

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This site has better pictures, like what you describe

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Yes, exactly. Figure 5 is the one I was thinking of. Dur for me for not actually linking to it, but thank you.

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dur?
btw,

dglenn, I think my irises are strandy too -- maybe that's just what hazel looks like close up?

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That site is also a site I quotes earlier.

The description is not invalid - it's just another description of another way that PDS can show itself. You can have PDS and not have these concentric rings.

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I'm glad you did further research, so I won't bother. My eyes also look pretty much exactly like that, except a little more greyish. I am seen regularly by a board certified opthamologist for near-sightedness issues, and nothing like that ever came up.

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I was understandably concerned (as were you). I'm glad it helped you out too, and I'm glad I said something. :>

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You're glad that you said something, and as such, someone isn't going to do their own research, or have their eyes tested for it? You know, I'm actually -boggled- that I said something potentially helpful, and people are acting like this.

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I'm not trying to run you down. I'm glad I said, "Hey, I don't know if you're interpreting this correctly." I could have been more sympathetic/simpering, I guess, but it wasn't meant personally that I said I didn't agree with your interpretation.

From my viewpoint it seemed like you were saying that people with the strandy irises were the ones with PGS. Since I have strandy irises and am under care and haven't had this mentioned, I went and dug a little deeper. From my reading, I don't need to be extra concerned, neither does the person in the picture.

Again, this isn't meant personally, but it would also help to know the full story, which is why I'm glad I said something, whether or not

old_hedwig does eir own reseaerch.

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Both my husband and my eyes have these rings to some degree, but you can easily see the difference in degree from this person's and ours.

Have you ever had a test for it? Based on what our family's opthamologist said, it is rare and rarely tested for. Perhaps it's something British opthamologist are more aware of than Americans. *shrugs* I'd think you'd rather do your own research and check it out, but perhaps not.

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Figure 5. Iris surface pigmentation.
Pigment accumulation on the anterior surface of the iris often appears as concentric rings within the iris furrows. More diffuse pigmentation can cause a diffuse darkening of iris color, which is more apparent in lightly pigmented irides because of the degree of color change. Asymmetry of pigment liberation may result in iris heterochromia, with the darker iris being the more affected side.

If you do more research you'll find that there are different reasons/sorts of PGS. What it appears this woman has represents just one sort. Of course you're going to find pictures of the other sorts.

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Just so you are aware - family members of mine have been diagnosed with it, and possibly my husband as well; I've done a lot more than half an hours looking up over it.

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Then can you clarify for me what you're seeing that leads you to this diagnosis? My (sparse) research seems to disagree with yours. From what I have read, it seems that this kind of glaucoma is much more easily diagnosable with various kinds of special lighting, and that it's difficult to diagnose with normal lighting and naked eye.

Are you looking at the brownish/greenish discoloration near the pupil at the 12 to 2 o'clock position? Or are you looking at the bluish discoloration that seems to be at the edge of the eye near the 3 o'clock position? Or are you looking at the strandy/lacy appearance of the iris material all around the eye?

My reading seems to indicate that the strandy/lacy appearance is not an indicator of PGS. Are you saying that it actually is and I have cause for concern (since my own eye morphology is similar)? If so, can you point me to references I can use to do more thorough research?

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Thank you for this astonishingly beautiful thing. I hope the human behind it comes out OK.

Nice. I was told once that I have a freckle on my left iris. I would really like to know what it looks like.

absolutely beautiful. if you don't mind, i'd like to try making a Sims2 eye skin from this.

also, i think us nerdy types can often be a bit quick to pathologize things. i've seen a few eyes like this in my time, and nobody i know has ever had glaucoma.

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