OPHTHALMOLOGY

RETINA & VITREOUS

SPECIALIZED CARE

Retinal, vitreous & macular surgery

| OPHTHALMOLOGIST

VITREO-RETINAL CONDITIONS

Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion (BRVO)

Branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) is a common retinal vascular disease of the elderly. It is caused by the occlusion of one of the branches of central retinal vein. BRVO is 3 times more common than CRVO. Usual age of onset is 60–70 years. An analysis of population from several countries estimates that approximately 16 million people worldwide may have retinal vein occlusion.

Central Retinal Vein Occlusion (CRVO)

The central retinal vein is the venous equivalent of the central retinal artery and, like that blood vessel, it can suffer from occlusion (central retinal vein occlusion, also CRVO, similar to that seen in ocular ischemic syndrome. Since the central retinal artery and vein are the sole source of blood supply and drainage for the retina, such occlusion can lead to severe damage to the retina and blindness, due to ischemia (restriction in blood supply) and edema (swelling). It can also cause glaucoma. Nonischemic CRVO is the milder form of the disease. It may progress to the more severe ischemic type.

Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy - RDP

Diabetic retinopathy, also known as diabetic eye disease, is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes and is a leading cause of blindness. It affects up to 80 percent of people who have had diabetes for 20 years or more. At least 90% of new cases could be reduced if there were proper treatment and monitoring of the eyes. The longer a person has diabetes, the higher his or her chances of developing diabetic retinopathy. Each year in the United States, diabetic retinopathy accounts for 12% of all new cases of blindness. It is also the leading cause of blindness for people aged 20 to 64 years.

Exudative Macular Degeneration

In the wet, or exudative, form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), pathologic choroidal neovascular membranes (CNVM) develop under the retina. The CNVM can leak fluid and blood and, if left untreated, ultimately cause a centrally blinding disciform scar. Approximately 10-20% of patients with nonexudative AMD eventually progress to the exudative form, which is responsible for the majority of the estimated 1.75 million cases of advanced AMD in the United States.AMD usually occurs bilaterally, but it is often asymmetrical. Patients with exudative AMD present with the following: Subretinal fluid Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) detachments Subretinal hemorrhage Choroidal neovascularization Subretinal lipid deposits (occasionally) Patients with exudative AMD typically describe painless, progressive blurring or distortion of their central visual acuity, which can be acute or insidious in onset. Patients who develop subretinal hemorrhage from choroidal neovascularization (CNV), for example, typically report an acute onset. Other patients with CNV may experience insidious blurring secondary to shallow subretinal fluid or RPE detachments. They also report relative or absolute central scotomas, metamorphopsia, and difficulty reading.The natural history of exudative AMD (and occasionally nonexudative AMD) results in a stable central scotoma in which the patient’s visual acuity falls below the reading level and the legal driving level. However, peripheral visual acuity is usually retained.

Macular Edema

Complication of Diabetes Mellitus without adequate metabolic control. Compromises the central or reading vision. It occurs in isolation in diabetics, or complication associated with diabetic retinopathy patients. It is a potentially serious condition susceptible of improvement with timely treatment. At high risk of late complications without evaluation and treatment. It requires priority ophthalmologic evaluation. If you have impaired vision read or details, or have visual difficulties working on the computer or other of its activities, a timely assessment should be performed.

Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field.Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, some people experience a gradual worsening of vision that may affect one or both eyes. While it does not result in complete blindness, loss of central vision can make it hard to recognize faces, drive, read, or perform other activities of daily life. Visual hallucinations may also occur and these do not represent a mental illness.Macular degeneration typically occurs in older people. Genetic factors and smoking also play a role. It is due to damage to the macula of the retina. Diagnosis is by a complete eye exam. The severity is divided into early, intermediate, and late types. The late type is additionally divided into "dry" and "wet" forms with the dry form making up 90% of cases.Prevention includes exercising, eating well, and not smoking. Antioxidant vitamins and minerals do not appear to be useful for prevention. There is no cure or treatment that returns vision already lost. In the wet form, anti-VEGF medication injected into the eye or less commonly laser coagulation or photodynamic therapy may slow worsening. Supplements in those who already have the disease may slow progression. In 2015 it affected 6.2 million people globally. In 2013 it was the fourth most common cause of blindness after cataracts, preterm birth, and glaucoma. It most commonly occurs in people over the age of fifty and in the United States is the most common cause of vision loss in this age group. About 0.4% of people between 50 and 60 have the disease, while it occurs in 0.7% of people 60 to 70, 2.3% of those 70 to 80, and nearly 12% of people over 80 years old.

Retinal Detachment

Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina separates from the layer underneath. Symptoms include an increase in the number of floaters, flashes of light, and worsening of the outer part of the visual field. This may be described as a curtain over part of the field of vision. In about 7% of cases both eyes are affected. Without treatment permanent loss of vision may occur.The mechanism most commonly involves a break in the retina that then allows the fluid in the eye to get behind the retina. A break in the retina can occur from a posterior vitreous detachment, injury to the eye, or inflammation of the eye. Other risk factors include being short sighted and previous cataract surgery. Retinal detachments also rarely occur due to a choroidal tumor.Diagnosis is by either looking at the back of the eye with an ophthalmoscope or by ultrasound.In those with a retinal tear, efforts to prevent it becoming a detachment include cryotherapy using a cold probe or photocoagulation using a laser. Treatment of retinal detachment should be carried out in a timely manner. This may include scleral buckling where silicone is sutured to the outside of the eye, pneumatic retinopexy where gas is injected into the eye, or vitrectomy where the vitreous is partly removed and replaced with either gas or oil.Retinal detachments affect between 0.6 and 1.8 people per 10,000 per year. About 0.3% of people are affected at some point in their life. It is most common in people who are in their 60s or 70s. Males are more often affected than females. The long term outcomes depend on the duration of the detachment and whether the macula was detached. If treated before the macula detaches outcomes are generally good.

Peripheral Retinal Tear

Retinal detachment is a disorder of the eye in which the retina separates from the layer underneath. Symptoms include an increase in the number of floaters, flashes of light, and worsening of the outer part of the visual field. This may be described as a curtain over part of the field of vision. In about 7% of cases both eyes are affected. Without treatment permanent loss of vision may occur.The mechanism most commonly involves a break in the retina that then allows the fluid in the eye to get behind the retina. A break in the retina can occur from a posterior vitreous detachment, injury to the eye, or inflammation of the eye. Other risk factors include being short sighted and previous cataract surgery. Retinal detachments also rarely occur due to a choroidal tumor.Diagnosis is by either looking at the back of the eye with an ophthalmoscope or by ultrasound.In those with a retinal tear, efforts to prevent it becoming a detachment include cryotherapy using a cold probe or photocoagulation using a laser. Treatment of retinal detachment should be carried out in a timely manner. This may include scleral buckling where silicone is sutured to the outside of the eye, pneumatic retinopexy where gas is injected into the eye, or vitrectomy where the vitreous is partly removed and replaced with either gas or oil.Retinal detachments affect between 0.6 and 1.8 people per 10,000 per year. About 0.3% of people are affected at some point in their life. It is most common in people who are in their 60s or 70s. Males are more often affected than females. The long term outcomes depend on the duration of the detachment and whether the macula was detached. If treated before the macula detaches outcomes are generally good.

Epiretinal Membrane

 

Epiretinal membrane is a disease of the eye in response to changes in the vitreous humor or more rarely, diabetes. It is also called macular pucker. Sometimes, as a result of immune system response to protect the retina, cells converge in the macular area as the vitreous ages and pulls away in posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). PVD can create minor damage to the retina, stimulating exudate, inflammation, and leucocyte response. These cells can form a transparent layer gradually and, like all scar tissue, tighten to create tension on the retina which may bulge and pucker (e.g., macular pucker), or even cause swelling or macular edema. Often this results in distortions of vision that are clearly visible as bowing when looking at lines on chart paper (or an Amsler grid) within the macular area, or central 1.0 degree of visual arc. Usually it occurs in one eye first, and may cause binocular diplopia or double vision if the image from one eye is too different from the image of the other eye. The distortions can make objects look different in size (usually larger = macropsia), especially in the central portion of the visual field, creating a localized or field dependent aniseikonia that cannot be fully corrected optically with glasses. Partial correction often improves the binocular vision considerably though. In the young (under 50 years of age), these cells occasionally pull free and disintegrate on their own; but in the majority of sufferers (over 60 years of age) the condition is permanent. The underlying photoreceptor cells, rod cells and cone cells, are usually not damaged unless the membrane becomes quite thick and hard; so usually there is no macular degeneration.

 

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