Pterygium Excision and Removal
Pterygium Excision is a procedure that improves vision through the removal of a pterygium, which are abnormal benign tissue that grow over the cornea.
Pterygium Excision is a procedure that improves vision through the removal of a pterygium, which are abnormal benign tissue that grow over the cornea.
Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of visual loss in both the elderly and the working-age population. Danaei et al. recently reported in “The Lancet” that age-standardized adult diabetes prevalence has reached 9.8% in men and 9.2% in women. Approximately 24% of these patients are already diagnosed with different forms of diabetic retinopathy but 28% will remain undiagnosed until the onset of complications.
The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy grows proportionally to the duration of diabetes, so all the patients with type 1 diabetes and 60% of those with type 2 diabetes will be diagnosed with a form of diabetic retinopathy after 20 years of disease .
The diabetic retinopathy affects the retinal microvascularization, leading to progressive retinal ischemia, neovascularization and fibro- cellular proliferation. Many patients are referred to a retina specialist in late phases of diabetic retinopathy evolution, when severe complications like vitreous hemorrhage and tractional retinal detachment are already installed. On the other hand, 5% of the patients with diabetic retinopathy, appropriate ophthalmic care, and strict metabolic control still develop ocular complications requiring a surgical treatment.
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disorder of the developing retinal blood vessels of the preterm infant. New recommendations for screening and treatment of ROP have been published in the past few years. Current evidence suggests that screening infants with gestational ages of 30 6/7 weeks or less (regardless of birth weight) and birth weights of 1250 g or less is a strategy with a very small likelihood that an unscreened baby would have treatable ROP. Individual centres may choose to extend birth weight screening criteria to 1500 g. Initial screening should be performed at 31 weeks’ postmenstrual age in infants with gestational ages of 26 6/7 weeks or less at birth, and at four weeks’ chronological age in infants with gestational ages of 27 weeks or more at birth by an ophthalmologist skilled in the detection of ROP. Follow-up examinations are conducted according to the ophthalmologist’s recommendation. Infants with high-risk prethreshold ROP and threshold ROP are referred for retinal ablative therapy. Developing processes for ROP screening, documenting results and communicating results to parents as well as health professionals involved in the infant’s care are important responsibilities for all nurseries providing care for preterm infants.
An intravitreal (pronounced in tra VIT re al) injection is a procedure to place a medication directly into the space in the back of the eye called the vitreous cavity, which is filled with a jelly-like fluid called the vitreous humor gel. The procedure is usually performed by a trained retina specialist in the office setting.
What are intravitreal injections used for?
Intravitreal injections are used to administer medications to treat a variety of retinal conditions. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion are the most common conditions treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs. Intravitreal steroids are used in some eyes with diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion and uveitis. The anti-VEGF drugs and steroids help to reduce fluid leakage associated with these disorders. Antibiotic, anti fungal and antiviral drugs are also used to treat patients with infections in the eye such as endophthalmitis and retinitis. In some cases an injection is used to insert a small gas bubble to aid repair of a retinal detachment.
Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty, or SLT, is a form of laser surgery that is used to lower intraocular pressure in glaucoma.
It is used when eye drop medications are not lowering the eye pressure enough or are causing significant side effects. It can also be used as initial treatment in glaucoma. SLT has been in use for more than 25 years in the United States and around the world.
What is a Retinal Detachment?
The retina is the light-sensitive layer of nerve tissue that lines the inside of the eye and sends visual messages through the optic nerve to the brain. A retinal detachment occurs when the retina becomes separated from the rest of the layers of the eye. This usually occurs after you develop a tear in the retina. The extent of permanent damage depends on how much of the retina becomes detached and whether or not the center of the retina (the macula) becomes detached. The macula is made up of special nerve cells that provide the sharp central vision needed for seeing fine detail (reading and driving etc.). If your macula has become detached, you have a poorer visual prognosis and you may not regain good enough vision to read or drive with that eye even after successful surgery.
Laser photocoagulation is a proven effective treatment for preserving vision and reducing the risk of vision loss from diabetic retinopathy. In national clinical trials of laser treatment for diabetic retinopathy conducted at multiple locations, laser photocoagulation reduced the risk of severe vision loss from diabetic retinopathy to less than 2% over a five-year period.
Two laser techniques are performed today, generally using an argon laser:
Your eye is made of layers. The uvea is the middle layer. It’s between the white part of your eye — called the sclera — and the inner layers of your eye.
Your uvea contains three important structures:
The iris. That’s the colored circle at the front of your eye.
The ciliary body. Its job is to help your lens focus and make the fluid that nourishes the inside of your eye.
The choroid. This is a group of blood vessels that give your retina the nutrients it needs.
Yes. Which type you have depends on where the swelling is.
The first step may be eye drops that have medicine — usually a corticosteroid — to fight inflammation. You might get dilating eye drops to prevent scarring and cut eye twitches. If the drops don’t work, your doctor may add a pill or injection.
If an infection causes your uveitis, you’ll get other drugs, too. These infection fighters include antibiotics and antivirals.
Macular degeneration treatment breakthroughs inspire hope that someday we may see a cure to this disease. Promising treatments, described below, depend upon the stage of disease progression.
The treatment for early dry AMD is generally nutritional therapy, with a healthy diet high in antioxidants to support the cells of the macula.
If AMD is further advanced but still dry, supplements are prescribed, to add higher quantities of certain vitamins and minerals which may increase healthy pigments and support cell structure.
There’s no cure, but treatment for age-related macular degeneration(AMD) may slow the disease and keep you from having a severe loss of vision. Talk to your us about the best way to manage your condition.
Glaucoma is the most common optic neuropathy in the adulthood. Glaucoma is defined as an optic neuropathy associated in most cases with elevated intraocular pressure (although pressure may be within the normal range), with or without anatomic predisposing factors in the anterior chamber (open angle vs angle closure). The American Academy of Ophthalmology has defined Glaucoma as ” a multifactorial optic neuropathy with a characteristic acquired loss of optic nerve fibers” which is usually (but not necessarily) identified in visual field exam and retinal fiber OCT. This cluster of diseases is progressive without appropriate treatment, and unfortunately the damage is irreversible. Primary Open Angle Glaucoma is the most common form of this cluster of diseases.
There has been emphasis on glaucoma screening, since most of the times there is an insidious start of the disease (with no clear start point, POAG), and progression may be slow and unnoticed to the patient. In addition to that, there is a recognized stage of the disease in which patients are apparently in a pre-perimetric (before loss of the visual field is present) stage, bringing a challenge to the diagnosis and screening techniques.
The purpose of glaucoma screening tests is to detect those with early stage disease, so that these patients can be treated to reduce the risk of visual field loss.
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We are pleased to offer specialist services for a wide range of ocular diseases and conditions. Learn more here.
Tel. (242) 676-2020
Fax. (242) 677-6661
Bahamas Retina and Eye Care Services
Suite 115, Lagoon Court
P. O. Box CB-12144
Nassau, The Bahamas
Mon-Fri: 9 am – 6 pm
Sat: 10 am – 2 pm