The Institute offers comprehensive and advanced medical and surgical management of all vitreoretinal diseases with cutting edge technology. Retinal diseases like diabetic retinopathy, age related macular degeneration, vascular occlusions, malignancies, pediatric retinal diseases like retinopathy of prematurity are handled by our experts. In addition, “The Mobile Diabetic retinopathy project- Nayana” and “The Retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) Telescreening project” are our community outreach projects handled by our trained team of vitreoretinal surgeons. The department handles referrals and perform complex vitreoretinal retinal surgeries, trauma cases, intravitreal injections, lensectomies and scleral fixation of Intraocular lens.
The clinical services, clinical research, education and community services are provided by the vitreo retina services that helps the patient get appropriate, timely and personalized retinal as well as medical management services.
Disorders Treated
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes and a leading cause of blindness. It occurs when diabetes damages the tiny blood vessels inside the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. A healthy retina is necessary for good vision. If you have diabetic retinopathy, at first you may notice no changes to your vision. But over time, diabetic retinopathy can get worse and cause vision loss. Diabetic retinopathy usually affects both eyes.
Age related macular degeneration
In macular degeneration, the light-sensing cells of the macula malfunction and may over time cease to work. Macular degeneration occurs most often in people over 60 years old, in which case it is called Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). Much less common are several hereditary forms of macular degeneration, which usually affect children or teen-agers. Collectively, they are called Juvenile Macular Degeneration. They include Best's Disease, Stargardt's Disease, Sorsby's Disease and some others.
Flashes and floaters
Light flashes are sometimes caused by mechanical stimulation of the retina, often referred to as "pulling", "forces", or "traction".A variety of conditions can cause it, including: posterior vitreous separation,retinal tears (breaks), and scarring on the surface of the retina.Some macular disease patients experience flashes in the central field of vision .
Retinal detachment
Retinal detachments often develop in eyes with retinas weakened by a hole or tear. This allows fluid to seep underneath, weakening the attachment so that the retina becomes detached. When detached, the retina cannot compose a clear picture from the incoming rays and vision becomes blurred and dim.
Retinal arterial blocks
A retinal artery occlusion occurs when the central retinal artery or one of the arteries that branch off of it becomes blocked. This blockage is typically caused by a tiny embolus (blood clot) in the blood stream, causing permanent vision loss. Retinal artery obstruction is like a stroke in the eye. the damage can be relatively mild or quite severe, depending on the extent to which the blood flow has been disrupted.
Retinal venous blocks
Central retinal venous blocks occur when there is a congestion to blood flow and an increase in backpressure on the central retinal vein. It causes variable degree of visual loss and can be easily diagnosed by a retinal examination. It is commonly seen in hypertensives and diabetics. Some time it can be seen in people with clotting abnormalities also. Retinopathy of Prematurity condition happens when a baby is born prematurely ( less than 36 weeks of gestation).The retina of the baby is screened in association with the NICU and action taken as nescessary.
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RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY
The Vittala ROP project
The mobile unit of the project has been operational since 2010 January.
Executive summary:
Retinopathy of Pre maturity is a leading cause of childhood blindness. With the increase in the survival rates of pre mature infants, as a result of various successful interventions by the benevolent Department of Health and Family Welfare in order to reduce IMR, who otherwise would have been lost the condition has become still more serious and needs to be addressed appropriately on an urgent basis in order to prevent potential blindness of the unfortunate child.. It also necessitates providing additional resources for education and training of such differently abled children.
The disease affects babies born before 36 weeks of gestation. Additional risk factors include low birth weight and oxygen therapy. A current epidemiological estimate puts the rate of occurrence of ROP at between 10 and 12% of live premature births. Strategy to tackle this potentially blinding condition rests on weekly screening of at risk infants till they reach 40 weeks post conception age. The number of screenings required range from 2-8 depending on the age of the premature.
Technology to screen and diagnose this disease is very limited and exists mainly in the cities. Provision of NICU and SNCU units through the NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) has increased the survivability of premature children making the need for expert screening for ROP an acute need.
A combination of technology and manpower can address the challenges of screening in District hospitals and medical colleges and has the potential to increase trained manpower while saving the vision of many vulnerable children.
Objectives of the Vittala ROP project
a) Fully equipped sustainable and subsidized clinic for Pediatric Ophthalmology combined with training of ophthalmologists in screening and treatment delivery, wherever required.b) Delivery of best possible treatment and post treatment care to patients with ROP using tele screening. This we achieve with the utilization of a Retcam II shuttle ROP screening Camera and an open technology based secure web system.
c)GP, health worker and patient education in risk factors and the need of comprehensive checkups for high-risk infants.
d) Population based studies which will fill a much needed gap in research.
Operational details:
All NICUs are visited weekly by the mobile screening clinic in Bangalore city as well as outside. All at risk babies are photographed using the Retcam or Trinetra forus . Images are uploaded to a dedicated web server for expert opinions. Opinions on follow-up, treatment, further action are delivered through this unique web based secure system. Screening is provided at a nominal cost to patients who can afford to pay and free for poor patients.
Babies needing treatment are treated in situ using our lasers. Surgical management is done at our base hospital in Bangalore which has state of the art fully equipped OTs.
- Vitreous hemorrhage
- Cystoid macular edema
- Macular hole
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- Posterior uveitis
- Ocular trauma
- Central serous retinopathy
Other Disorders treated are:
Our team of doctors