Critical Retina Exam Important for Cataract Surgery

Physician Staff at The Eye Care & Surgery Center

Having a critical retina exam as part of your cataract exam before cataract surgery is a good idea based on current research. In fact, patients with cataracts and contemplating cataract surgery should expect their cataract surgeon to perform a thorough and critical retinal exam in order to carefully correlate the degree of vision loss with the density and position of the cataract. When cataract patients report a decrease in vision, it is important to correlate the visual symptoms and visual acuity to the degree of cataract present. If you have a considerable amount of vision loss but only mild cataracts, the actual cause of the vision loss must be identified. In many cases, a careful examination of theretina can reveal underlying pathology such as epiretinal membranes, retinal wrinkling or macular pucker with edema. In fact, some studies report a prevalence of epiretinal membranes in 7% of patients older than 60 years and in 20% of patients aged 75 years or more-the prime demographic for cataract surgery. Therefore, before you have cataract surgery expect to have whatever level of examination and testing your cataract surgeon requests in order to help you get the best results.

If you or someone you know has questions about the need for a critical retina exam before cataract surgery and lens implants please feel free to call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

With locations at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading NJ eye care practice conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.

25% Off Childrens’ Eyeglasses at The Eye Care & Surgery Center

As parents are getting their children ready for the “Back to School” season, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is pleased to offer a 25% discount on kids eyewear andeyeglasses through September 30, 2014. We are featuring eyeglass frames from Lacoste™, Nike, Hello Kitty, Converse®, Ray Ban®, Nine West, Miraflex and Flexon, to name some of the popular kid’s eyeglasses we offer.  

To schedule an eye exam or eyeglass selection and fitting, please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter.

Inflammation Marker Indicates Macular Degeneration Risk

CRP (c-reactive protein) is an inflammation marker that can be tested as part of a routine blood test. We now know that the risk of macular degeneration (AMD) is correlated with the findings of the CRP (c-reactive proteins) test in men and women according to researchers from Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who reported in JAMA Ophthalmology.

The findings of these studies showed that there was a significantly increased risk of AMD for those patients with high versus low CRP levels and those with high CRP levels also had a significantly increased risk of neovascular or Wet AMD-a leading cause of vision loss among seniors. The researchers concluded that elevated levels of CRP predict greater future risk of AMD. It is believed that this information might shed light on underlying mechanisms and could be of clinical help in the identification of persons at high risk of AMD who may benefit from increased adherence to lifestyle recommendations, eye examination schedules and therapeutic protocols.

If you or someone you know has a question about CRP tests and the risk of age related macular degeneration (AMD) please call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 908-789-8999, visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or facebook.com/eyecareandsurgerycenter to schedule an appointment.

With locations at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, The Eye Care & Surgery Center is a leading NJ eye care practice conveniently located for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.