REFRESH YOUR OPHTHALMOLOGY Cont.__ MYOPIA

In continuation of my previous chapter of refractive errors Myopia is a common error but in some persons it produces a condition called pathological Myopia where the vision will be in danger. So a regular yearly checkup is a must in growing years. Myopia is Latin word meaning “I close my eyes”. In history most famous personalities are Mope’s. Among them the famous beauty CLIOPATRA is a myopic that is why she had big eyes and she fell in love with Antony whose age was 70 years.

This is a common error in children and the main cause is Hereditary and can be corrected to normal with spectacles if prescribed in early age. But in few % of cases the eyeball continue to grow and lead to a condition called Pathological Myopia As a family phycians you should be concerned with this condition and advise them at the proper time to go for treatment otherwise vision will be lost

All myopic persons are run the risk of developing retinal thinning and develop Retinal Detachment. The cause being as the eye ball grows only sclera grows and retina does not grow along with it so the retina is stretched and does not get enough blood supply and retinal degeneration starts appearing and so retina becomes thinned out and retinal tears occurs and produces Retinal Detachment occurs. This can be easily prevented by closing the hole early with LASER PHOTOCOAGULATION. So a regular checkup once a year up to 21 is a must to prevent this complication

The treatment for Myopia is as follows Simple prescription of spectacle which corrects Myopia in most number of cases If there is difference in power in each eye Eg; minus2 in RE and minus 4 in LE the brain cannot fuse the image and patient will use only one eye at a time and he will develop Squint Tand the eye with higher power will become a Lazy eye. These cases if fitted with Contact Lenses will develop normally. So as family phycians 3. Modern treatment of Lasik Laser hear the superficial layers of Cornea is removed like a trap door and the base is ablated with laser and the trap door layer is replaced.This treatment is effective only if there is no desecrations in the RETINA. So a through eye examination is absolutely essential and Retinal evaluation is amust for successful results. IF NOT IT MAY AGGEVATE THE UNDERLYING pathology.

4. Ortho keratology hear a minor surgery is performed in the layers of the Cornea and lens implanted. This is a boon to young high Myopes which saves their vision. 5. mostly all heritor myopias will develop retinal weak spots which later on lead to Retinal detachment. So all myopes must undergo regular checkup and weak spots in the Retina should be sealed with LASER in time.

Common symptoms which alerts a family Phycians to advice the patient for Retinal examination are 1Floters in the field of vision 2Flashes of light in one particular quadrent of the field of vision 3 sudden dimness of vision after lifting heavy weight

Things which should not be done by Myopes of more than minus 4 are 1No biometric exercise which involves holding of breath 2No rough sports like Boxing, Rugby, and Weight lifting 3 No high board diving in swimming

Instruments needed for good examination of Myopia are 1Indirect ophthalmoscope with +20 D convex lens 2 A good Slitlamp with3 miirror gonio mirror 3Auto refractometer with trial set of lenses 4 An ultra sound machine to measure the length of the globe and diagnose Retinal Detachment 5 Ordinary Laser to do prophylactic sealing of weak spots in the Retina

For more details contact Prof. Dr. Ramanathan & DR.BalajiRamanathan(Retina specialist) “I care Eyecare” eye clinic 29 Hanumar koil St; Radha nagar Chrompet Tel PS. This is a CME letter for private circulation among local medical practitioners