Unlike the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy, a patient with macular degeneration must have symptoms of the disease for the diagnosis to be made. In most cases, the retina should have characteristic "damage," and, most importantly, the patient must be having symptoms, i.e. decreased vision and/or distortion. In Whom We Make the Diagnosis Patients afflicted with macular … [Read more...]
Anesthesia For Eye Surgery
August 18, 2010 By 2 Comments
Retina surgery is painless, you remain awake and is performed on an outpatient basis. Advances in technology have decreased the length of surgery making outpatient eye surgery possible. There are two basic methods of anesthesia; awake (aka local) and asleep (aka general). Local Anesthesia with Sedation Most of my operations, either vitrectomy or scleral buckle, are … [Read more...]
Implantable Telescope Treats Macular Degeneration
August 10, 2010 By 12 Comments
A new implantable intraocular telescope is now available for patients with endstage macular degeneration. Patients with severe, bilateral (both eyes), loss of central vision caused by macular degeneration may now benefit from this tiny visual prosthesis. The company, VisionCare, received FDA approval for CentraSight just last week. How Does CentraSight Work? The … [Read more...]
Diabetes? 4 Things You Need to Know
August 6, 2010 By 1 Comment
I tell every new diabetic patient I meet 4 things: they are going to develop diabetic retinopathy regular eye exams prevent vision loss good sugar control doesn't save them and their other doctors are dead wrong. It is a message I have developed to hammer home the idea that diabetic retinopathy can be blinding and most doctors don't understand how this … [Read more...]
The Timing of Retinal Detachment Surgery
August 2, 2010 By 2 Comments
There are 3 criteria I consider when deciding the timing of retinal detachment surgery; location of the retinal detachment duration of symptoms is central vision affected? What Portion of the Retina is Detached? By location, I don't mean right versus left eye. At times the uppermost, or superior, portion of the retina is detached. These types of … [Read more...]
