>Contents>Lasers in Eye Surgery
A disease occurring in some premature babies is retinopathy of prematurity, which is the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the retina, induced by an ischemic, avascular retina. Over time, this vessel growth may produce a fibrous scar tissue which attaches to the retina and may cause retinal detachment and eventually blindness. The hyperopic environment of the preterm neonate is directly linked to the severity of disease. Standard treatment has been cryotherapy of the anterior avascular retina in the infant eyes that reach 'threshold retinopathy'. Recently, both argon and diode laser indirect ophthalmoscope systems have been developed for transpupillary peripheral retinal ablation. Laser treatment is at least as effective as cryotherapy if not more so [4], and it is also easier to apply, especially for posterior disease. Where available, lasers have largely supplanted cryotherapy, except in cases of severe cloudy media. Besides this main indication, retinoblastoma or posterior segment diseases in children have been treated using argon or YAG lasers.
The Beginnings
How Do Lasers Work?
Anterior Segment Surgery
Refractive Surgery
Pediatric Eye Surgery
Retinal Surgery
Conclusion
References
Biography
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