Two emergency surgeries were done in a single sitting within a day of patient’s admission who developed sudden vision loss

 

  • Cosmetic eye surgery performed later to the patient’s blind eye in order to achieve more acceptable cosmetic appearance

 

Mysuru, 16 February 2022: When Mr. Yashwanth Kumar, aged 52 years, experienced sudden and almost complete vision loss in his left eye recently, he was devastated. For, he is a monocular person – he was blind in his right eye, and his left eye remained his only window to the outside world. However, timely interventions that included two emergency surgeries and a cosmetic procedure at Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Mysuru, not only restored maximum vision in his only seeing eye, but also gave a facelift to his personality by making his blind eye have a normal appearance.

 

The cause of Yashwanth’s sudden vision loss in his left eye was the detachment of retina, the tissue at the back of the eye, from the layer of blood vessels (choroid). Retina is important for vision. It receives light that enters inside the eye, converts it into neural signals and sends the signals to the brain for visual recognition. Retinal detachment is an emergency, as the detached retina will start to die without blood supply – and oxygen and nourishment, even within a few hours. It is because of retinal detachment, Yashwanth lost vision in his right eye – despite having undergone a surgery for his condition in 2008 at some other hospital.

 

A team of ophthalmologists headed by Dr. Praveen S Alvandi, Head Clinical Services,        Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Mysuru, immediately performed vitrectomy, a type of eye surgery to the retinal detachment. Since Yashwanth had also developed cataract in the left eye, the medical team had to perform phaco (with foldable IOL implant), a type of cataract surgery. It is to be noted that vitrectomy and phaco both were done in a single sitting in July last year. To improve the cosmetic appearance of his blind eye, corneal tattooing, the practice of tattooing the cornea, was performed about a month later. This procedure is performed in select cases for esthetic and functional purposes and it is very difficult to perform precisely.

 

Providing patient history, Dr. Praveen said, “Yashwanth was rushed to our hospital on 13th July 2021 with the complaints of sudden loss of vision in the left eye. We found that the retina was detached with 1/2-meter vision. We performed vitrectomy surgery the very next day. His vision improved to 3/60 within a week after the surgery. He now has 6/9 vision in his only working eye. We did the cosmetic correction to the other eye in September. This improved the cosmetic appearance of the other eye, bringing an immense amount of satisfaction and confidence to him to lead his life without being stigmatized anywhere.”

 

Dr. Praveen explained that retinal detachment can happen to people of any age but those who are predisposed to it include people who have high pathological myopia. Yashwanth has been having high pathological myopia since childhood and wearing glasses for decades. The at-risk group also includes trauma, old age, and diabetics. Weight lifting, obesity and smoking are other risk factors.

 

Talking about the causes of retinal detachment, Dr. Praveen said that the most common causes are aging and eye injuries. When retinal detachment takes place, within a few minutes to few hours, the person will find sudden appearance of many floaters, small specks drifting through the field of vision; flashes of light in one or both eyes. Or there can be a blurred vision and gradual reduction inside vision or a curtain-like shadow over the visual field.

 

Talking about the precautions to be taken to prevent retinal detachment, Dr. Praveen said that at-risk persons should go through retinal evaluation and regular eye checkups. They should not lift heavy weights, cough or sneeze hard.

 

He said that vitrectomy is a complex yet an effective procedure to reattach the retina. It also involves creating a support for the reattached retina by injecting liquids to smooth the retina into its place, against the wall of the eye. Gas or silicone oil is injected to secure the retina in place till it heals and resumes its physiological functions. 

 

Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Mysuru has a team of specialists with decades of experience, and sophisticated infrastructure to treat emergencies related to retinal displacement.