Fourth-year medical students from the Class of 2026 — Philip John Borsellino, Savannah Schauer, Axel Rivas, and Karl Aharonian published, "Clinical Ophthalmology: Filling in the Blind Spot: Integrating Charles Bonnet Syndrome Screening in Ophthalmology." Thomas A. Vida (Medicine) served as the faculty mentor and advisor while the students drove the project from concept to completion.
Most people imagine vision loss as a gradual dimming of sight. They rarely expect the brain to generate vivid scenes of people, animals, or geometric patterns to fill that empty space. Yet many patients with advanced eye disease experience exactly that. These images reflect Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS), a condition that often remains hidden.
The team reviewed nearly 1,600 scientific papers and selected 89 high-quality studies for analysis. Their findings show that CBS occurs far more often than clinicians recognize. In some high-risk groups, nearly one in three patients experiences these hallucinations. Many conceal their symptoms because they fear psychiatric mislabeling or believe the images signal rapid vision loss. Many clinics fail to detect CBS because they lack a clear screening approach.
The students responded to this gap with a practical solution. They built a clinic-ready screening model that helps ophthalmologists identify CBS early, explain it effectively, and support patients with clarity rather than uncertainty. Their achievement reflects skill, focus, and compassion — qualities that will shape the next generation of ophthalmic care.
