Chennai: Dr Agarwal's Group of Eye Hospitals Executive Director Dr Ashvin Agarwal became the first and youngest Indian to receive the prestigious 'AECOS Visionary Award' at the 8th Annual American European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (AECOS) summer symposium held in Deer Valley, Utah, United States recently.

Dr Ashvin Agarwal received the award from Dr Steven Dell, a renowned ophthalmologist in USA, also brother of Dell Computer, a press release said.

Ashvin also delivered the AECOS Visionary Award Lecture on 'Complex care management of ophthalmic surgery'.

The summer symposium was attended by renowned Indian and international ophthalmologists.

AECOS is a progressive organisation that fosters communication and cooperation between leading anterior segment surgeons, ophthalmic industry executives, select venture capitalists and technology entrepreneurs.

DON’TSUGAR-COATIT

DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

OCT 2018ISSUE

India tops the list of diabetics in the world and by 2025 will have 57.2 million patients. Blindness is 10 times more common in diabetics and 37% of diabetics have diabetic retinopathy.

People with diabetes can have an eye disease called diabetic retinopathy. This is when high blood sugar levels cause damage to blood vessels in the retina. These blood vessels can swell and leak. Or they can close, stopping blood from passing through. Sometimes abnormal new blood vessels grow on the retina affecting vision.

Diabetic retinopathy affects up to 80 percent of those who have had diabetes for 20 years or more. At least 90% of new cases could be reduced with proper treatment and monitoring of the eyes.

There are two main stages of diabetic eye disease.

Non proliferative diabetic retinopathy1

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy/advanced retinopathy

2

What is Diabetic Retinopathy?

Diabetes: The longer a person has diabetes, the more likely he or she is to develop diabetic retinopathy, particularly if the diabetes is poorly controlled.

Medical conditions: People with other medical conditions, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are at greater risk.

Pregnancy: Pregnant women face a higher risk for developing diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

What are the risk factors?

Visual Acuity Testing

1

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

5

Tonometry

3

Comprehensive Dilated Eye Exam

2

Fundus FluoresceinAngiography (FFA)

4

What are the stages?

What are the signs and symptoms?

How is diabetic retinopathy diagnosed?

The symptoms of diabetic retinopathy often don’t appear until major damage occurs inside of the eye. You can prevent unseen damage by keeping your blood sugar levels under good control and getting regular eye exams to monitor your eye health.

When the symptoms do appear, they’re most commonly seen in both eyes and can include:

What are the treatment modalities?The symptoms of diabetic retinopathy often don’t appear until major damage occurs inside of the eye. You can prevent unseen damage by keeping your blood sugar levels under good control and getting regular eye exams to monitor your eye health.

When the symptoms do appear, they’re most commonly seen in both eyes and can include:

Laser Treatment

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Ashvin AgarwalGETS GLOBAL AWARD

The Takeaway:Diabetic retinopathy is a serious eye condition that can lead to diminished eyesight or even blindness. If you are diagnosed with diabetes, it’s important to do the following:

• Get regular eye exams and physical checkups.

• Keep your blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure at healthy levels.

• Be mindful of any changes you may notice in your vision, and discuss them with your doctor.

• Timely treatment and appropriate follow ups are important

Medical Management

Surgical Management

Diabetic retinopathy and DME are detected during a comprehensive dilated eye exam that includes:

Blurred Vision/ Loss of Vision

Difficulty Seeing at Night

Difficulty Distinguishing Colors

Seeing Floaters or Dark Spots

Diabetic Macular Edema: DME is the build-up of fluid (edema) in a region of the retina called the macula. The macula is important for the sharp, straight-ahead vision that is used for reading, recognizing faces and driving.

Latest From the BlockArtificial Intelligence is poised to revolutionize medicine. The term "artificial intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem solving". Artificial intelligence attempts to make machines mimic the way humans think. AI and machine learning are being used by ophthalmologists to verify disease diagnoses, read images, perfect calculations and improve surgical outcomes. Nearly instantaneous feedback may lead to increased patient compliance and improved care.

AI is used for screening of macular degeneration, glaucoma and assess progression. Machine learning has been used in the diagnosis of cataract and improving lens implant power selection before cataract surgery but could be applied to other anterior segment areas such as the analysis of corneal topography and to improve accuracy of refractive surgery. Deploying these algorithms integrated within camera systems, has great potential to impact retinopathy of prematurity screening, especially in low-resource settings.

Telemedicine in ophthalmology will help in disease detection, access to care and blindness prevention. AI will never take the place of brains or experience. Doctors and patients make management decisions by working together to weigh the various risks and benefits and treatment alternatives.