Anyone who has diabetes is at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy, but not all diabetics will be affected. In the early stages of diabetes, you may not notice any change in your vision. But by the time you notice vision changes from diabetes; your eyes may already be damaged by the disease. This is why routine eye exams in our Fort Lauderdale office are so important.
At your comprehensive eye exam, the doctor will carefully view the retina through your dilated pupil. The doctor will look for any currently leaking blood vessels or evidence of past vessel leakage. These problems are often seen before you notice any visual symptoms. Early detection and treatment are critical to preventing vision loss.
If a problem is seen during your exam done at our office in Fort Lauderdale the following tests may be recommended and done in our office for your convenience.
- Fluorescein Angiography to detect the number & pattern of leaking blood vessels.
- Digital Photos may be taken to document the retinal changes and make it easier to monitor future changes.
- Ocular Coherence Tomography (OCT) to evaluate the vessel structure below the surface of the visible retina.
People with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy may not need treatment. However, they should be closely followed-up by an eye doctor in our Fort Lauderdale office trained to treat diabetic retinopathy.
For patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy, treatment may be recommended and though treatment usually does not reverse damage that has already occurred, it can help keep the disease from getting worse. Once your eye doctor notices new blood vessels growing in your retina (neovascularization) or you develop macular edema, treatment is usually needed.
- Laser eye surgery, called photocoagulation is generally used to treat diabetic retinopathy. It is used to keep vessels from leaking or to get rid of abnormal, fragile vessels. It creates small burns in the retina where there are abnormal blood vessels.
- Focal laser photocoagulation is used to treat macular edema.
- Scatter laser treatment or panretinal photocoagulation treats a large area of your retina. Often two or more sessions are needed.
- Tight control of blood sugar (glucose), blood pressure, and cholesterol is important
- Smoking cessation
- A surgical procedure called vitrectomy is used when there is bleeding (hemorrhage) into the eye.
- Medications such as Lucentis, Avastin and corticosteroids injected into the eye are being investigated as new treatments for diabetic retinopathy. They may help to prevent abnormal blood vessels from growing.
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