What E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) lacked in ophthalmology content, it made up for in emotional punch, choking up this then eleven year old viewer with empathy. The Crash Reel, a new HBO documentary, hits home with incredible portrayals of tragedy and heroism, and prominently features ophthalmology to deliver the total package.
Kevin Pearce, world-class snowboarder, suffers a horrifying crash during a half-pipe training run in Park City, UT in 2009. The documentary chronicles Pearce's rise to fame, his recovery, and the subsequent challenges faced by him and his impressive family.
Unfortunately, the type of injuries suffered by Pearce are not unfamiliar territory for practicing ophthalmologists. He sustains left orbital fractures (facial CT scans shown in the movie), intracranial hemorrhage and traumatic brain injury, a described but not shown traumatic mydriasis, acquired nystagmus, and a cranial nerve palsy which leaves him with persistent diplopia (double vision). The diplopia treatments shown run the whole gamut, and include occlusion filters, Fresnel prisms, prism glasses, vision therapy, and eventual strabismus (eye muscle) surgery. Pearce's ophthalmologist is shown reviewing some aspects of the informed consent process, and footage from inside the operating room and later in the post-op recovery area (see below) documents the first major film to feature strabismus surgery that this reviewer has ever seen.
Since The Crash Reel was released two weeks ago on HBO, I do not want to get into too many of the specific non-ophthalmic details of Lucy Walker's riveting and multi-faceted documentary. Ophthalmologists and non-ophthalmologists alike will be thrilled and challenged by what may very well be the best movie I have seen so far this year. A .
