What We Treat
Some Common Disorders of the Retina and VitreousThe longer someone has diabetes the greater the chance it will cause abnormalities in the retina. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when diabetes damages the blood vessels of the eye, causing either poor circulation to the retina, or else causing fluid to leak into the retina. This results in blurred vision. Diabetes may also cause abnormal blood vessels to grow, and these may then break causing bleeding into the vitreous cavity of the eye. This too causes decreased vision. Finally diabetes can cause scar tissue to develop in the eye, and contraction of this scar tissue can be another cause of retinal detachment. Fortunately, timely and appropriate treatment can allow most people with diabetes to retain excellent vision.
The macula is the center part of the retina, the part responsible for our reading vision and for the ability of our eye to see clear details. Macular degeneration is a condition which occurs with increasing age in which the macula part of the retina begins to deteriorate. Patients may notice distorted vision, missing spots, and blur. The most common type of macular degeneration is the "dry" type where the macular cells begin to thin out, and don’t work as well. However, some cases of macular degeneration are "wet" and are caused by abnormal blood vessels leaking either fluid or blood under the retina. There have been dramatic recent changes in the treatment of macular degeneration. New drugs including Lucentis and Avastin have improved the prognosis for many patients with new wet macular degeneration. Treatment can often be effective in limiting the rate of further vision loss, and sometimes in improving vision.
When the macula, which is the very center of the retina, develops a small hole, central vision may become blurred. This causes poor reading vision but the peripheral vision remains normal. Surgical treatment can improve vision in many patients.
Macular Pucker or Epiretinal Membranes
If scar tissue forms on top of the macula, the scar tissue can contract the retina and cause it to pucker or wrinkle. These wrinkles may result in vision loss, distorted or double vision. Surgical treatment can improve vision in many patients.
