Cataract and Cataract Surgery
DETAILS ABOUT
CATARACT AND CATARACT SURGERY
A cataract is the clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye. The clouding prevents light entering the eye from being focused on the retina. The lens clouds naturally as we age, resulting in a gradual decrease of eyesight. Cataracts usually progress slowly to cause visual loss and are potentially blinding if left untreated. The condition usually affects both eyes, but one is usually affected earlier than the other. In the United States of America, age-related lens changes have been reported in 42% of people between the ages of 52 to 64, 60% of people between 65 to 74, and 91% of people between the ages of 75 to 85.
Symptoms of cataracts
Blurred or hazy vision
A “film” or “fog” over the eye
Decreased contrast (newspaper or book ink fading)
Decreased brightness of colors
Glare from sunlight
Halos around lights (like oncoming headlights)
Light sensitivity
Need more light when you read
Harder seeing street signs until up close
Frequent changes in eyeglass prescription
Cannot follow the golf ball after hitting it
If you experience one or more symptoms, you should schedule an examination with SEE RIGHT NOW with TIMOTHY PEROZEK, MD.
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What Are Cataracts?
Getting to know cataracts & astigmatism
Cataract surgery: the basics
Treating astigmatism & presbyopia during cataract surgery
Example Images For Symptoms of Cataracts
Dull Vision
Light Scatter
Yellow Vision
Blurry / Cloudy Vision
WHAT IS CATARACT SURGERY
Cataract surgery is performed to improve vision by replacing the clouded lens with an artificial one. Cataracts affect millions of people in the United States each year. Cataract surgery is commonly performed and considered safe and effective.
We perform a stitch-free, pain-free surgery by using numbing eye drops for anesthesia. The procedure is performed using an ultrasound-driven instrument that “sonically” breaks up the cataract (phacoemulsification) as it is suctioned out of the eye. Our surgeon utilizes a microscopic incision that allows for a quicker recovery and eliminates the need for stitches, as the very small incision seals on its own. After your surgery, you will use eye drops multiple times a day as prescribed by Dr. Perozek.
Benefits Of Cataract
Surgery
- Greatly enhance the quality of life.
- Improved quality of vision (sharper images, brighter colors)
- Less difficulty with routine tasks (particularly night driving)
- Decreased dependency on eyeglasses
- Greater independence, regardless of age or disability
- Greater safety
- Reduced the risk of falls, making exercise, sports and hobbies safer.
- Improved ability to read, recognize faces, and perform everyday activities with greater ease, results in improved physical health, increased sociability and longer life expectancy.
The Cataract Surgery
Procedure
After the pupil is dilated, and the area in and around the eye is numbed with anesthesia from an eye drop, a tiny incision is made to insert an ultrasonic probe. The probe emulsifies (breaks up) the cloudy lens into tiny pieces that are then suctioned out of the eye. Once the cloudy lens has been removed, an artificial lens is implanted.
You are awake for the surgery but relaxed and not nervous from the IV medication given to you by the anesthesiologist.
Risks Of Cataract Surgery
Although cataract surgery is a common procedure and considered quite safe, any surgery poses risks. In the case of cataract surgery, there is a slightly increased risk of retinal detachment, a painless but dangerous condition. Other risks of cataract surgery include bleeding and infection. The risk of complications after cataract surgery is greater if the patient has another eye disease or serious medical condition. Danger signs of complications after cataract surgery include increased pain in or redness of the eye, light flashes or floaters, diminished vision, nausea, vomiting or intense coughing.
Recovery From Cataract Surgery
Immediately after surgery, an eye shield is worn at night to prevent from accidently rubbing the eye. Vision may be blurry at first due to swelling, just like walking is harder after knee surgery– not easier, but improves that first week. Some itching and discomfort are also present for a few days, but it is important that a patient not rub or exert pressure on the treated eye. Heavy lifting, swimming, and eye makeup should be avoided. Eye drops to prevent infection and clear up inflammation are used a few days before surgery and for about a month after surgery. Once the first eye recovers, then the second eye is done.
Custom Cataract Surgery
With custom cataract surgery the goal is to improve vision even more than traditionally done and decrease dependence on glasses or bifocals. The majority of patients who choose custom cataract surgery report that they can read a book or magazine, work on the computer, drive in daylight or night, play golf and tennis with increased freedom from glasses. Custom cataract surgery addresses two conditions: astigmatism and presbyopia.
Astigmatism Correcting Intraocular Lenses
When the surface of the cornea has an uneven curvature, vision becomes distorted. This irregularity is called corneal astigmatism. A person who has both a cataract and corneal astigmatism will not have clear distance vision after cataract surgery unless the astigmatism is also corrected. At the time of the cataract surgery, your surgeon can choose a special astigmatism correcting intraocular lens called a Toric intraocular lens. This is an implantable lens that makes it possible to treat the cataract and correct corneal astigmatism at the same time. This lens corrects more distortion than the traditional lens covered by insurance. This toric lens makes it such that you have good distance vision and only need over-the-counter glasses for near tasks such computer and reading. Most patients pass a driver’s test without glasses, drive without glasses day and night, watch TV without glasses and exercise without glasses!
Presbyopia Correcting Intraocular Lenses
Presbyopia is an age-related condition that most people over the age of 40 experience. This condition results in the difficulty seeing up close without bifocals or reading glasses. Patients who have traditional cataract surgery with standard monofocal intraocular lenses develop “instant presbyopia”, because these intraocular lenses focus at only one distance. Most patients usually need glasses for near and intermediate distance. By choosing custom cataract with a presbyopia correcting intraocular lens however, patients are usually much less dependent on glasses or bifocals at all distances. If you are considering cataract surgery, you may be a candidate for custom cataract surgery with a presbyopic correcting intraocular lens that can provide a full range of vision. This means that one may see clearly at distance, near and in-between with little or no dependence on bifocals or reading glasses. There are several types of presbyopia correcting intraocular lenses– which are referred to as multifocal lenses. Dr. Perozek will take careful measurements of your eye and discuss with you your lifestyle needs. You and your surgeon will then decide together which lens is the best for you.
Laser Cataract Surgery
IN LAS VEGAS
The Latest Cataract
Technology Working for You
Timothy Perozek, MD is one of the premier laser cataract eye surgeons in Las Vegas to offer laser refractive cataract surgery using the Catalys Precision Laser Platform femtosecond cataract system. Dr. Perozek is able to offer the widest range of customization to his laser cataract surgery patients, and provide a custom solution that will best meet the unique needs of each patient.
Las Vegas ophthalmology specialist, Dr. Perozek is among the earliest adopters of a new advance in cataract treatment: laser-assisted cataract surgery. This new treatment automates certain steps in the cataract surgery procedure. These steps, performed with hand-held blades and ultrasound probes in the traditional procedure, are performed by a fast, extremely accurate, computer-guided laser. Using a femtosecond laser to assist with cataract surgery leads to improved precision, which can be consistent with better surgical outcomes for patients.
Ophthalmology, and eye surgery in particular, is a branch of medicine where equipment and techniques are constantly evolving. Lasers, for example, have revolutionized the way vision problems are treated — think of the fact that LASIK, and laser eye surgery in general as we know it, didn’t even exist just 30 years ago! Thanks to this ever-advancing laser technology, there is now a new addition to the list of eye care options that can dramatically improve the lives of patients with cataracts: laser cataract surgery.
The laser cataract surgery performed by Dr. Perozek replaces some of the tools and steps in traditional cataract surgery with a computer-guided laser, known as a femtosecond laser. This laser makes cataract and lens replacement more accurate and precise than previously possible.
By taking traditional cataract surgery and replacing some of the tools and steps used to perform the procedure with the femtosecond laser, Dr. Perozek can produce outstanding results with improved safety and precision. By using a laser, much of the potential for human error is taken out of the equation. This helps make the procedure more reliable with more consistent results for our laser cataract surgery patients.
Steps Replaced By Laser
Entry incisions:
The first step in cataract surgery is to make small incisions in the eye. In laser cataract surgery, these incisions are made by the femtosecond laser rather than by the traditional hand-held blade. The laser is programmed to make the precise incisions based on the individual’s corneal anatomy. As of today, Dr. Perozek still prefers using the blade to hand craft the incisions; however, as technology advances, he predicts almost all aspects of cataract surgery will be replaced with the laser.
Astigmatism correction:
If the patient has any pre-existing astigmatism, the laser can now be used to correct it making very precise incisions in the periphery of the cornea. Dr. Perozek uses Toric lenses to correct the astigmatism and the laser is used for small fine tuning.
Capsulorhexis:
In order to remove a cataract, the anterior portion of the lens capsule, which surrounds the cataract-affected lens, must be removed. In the traditional cataract surgery technique, the surgeon removes the anterior capsule (termed “capsulorhexis”) utilizing a special handheld forceps. It is important that the capsulorhexis be centered over the lens to ensure proper centration of the lens implant. With the Catalys Precision Laser Platform, the laser is able to center the capsulorhexis with a computerized picture before the start of the surgery. This ensures a perfectly centered lens implant and ensures a perfectly sized opening which helps center the lens implant which improves the vision after surgery. Dr. Perozek believes this step alone justifies the upgrade to Laser Cataract surgery. The laser really shows its value for this critical step of surgeries which surgeons view as the most difficult maneuver to perform by hand. Sometimes this is the only step in the procedure used by surgeons with the laser as it is seen as the most valuable.
Lens fragmentation:
To more easily remove the lens, it is broken up into smaller, more extractable pieces. With the traditional technique of phacoemulsification, this was done with handheld metal “choppers and crackers” and/or ultrasonic probes which require the use of ultrasonic energy within the eye. More ultrasonic energy is needed for
denser cataracts. This energy creates inflammation and edema (swelling) of the cornea. The automated laser cataract technique uses much lower energy to break up the lens (see figure below) within the eye, making it easier for the surgeon to remove the cataract and a safer procedure for the patient.
To learn more about the Laser Cataract Surgery (femtocataract surgery) Dr. Timothy Perozek offers Las Vegas, please contact our office to make an appointment. SEE RIGHT NOW with TIMOTHY PEROZEK, MD will be more than happy to determine whether you qualify for this advanced and revolutionary procedure.