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Information for Patients Undergoing Retinal Surgery
Vitreoretinal Surgery deals with diseases involving the vitreous humour and the retina.
The most common disease entities dealt with include:
- diabetic retinopathy
- retinal detachment
- severe trauma to the eye
- macular degeneration
- vascular abnormalities (abnormalities of the blood vessels)
At the Toronto Western Hospital, we have the largest volume vitreoretinal surgery department in North America. We have seen many exciting new innovations in this speciality over the past ten years, including perfluorocarbon liquids for the repair of complicated retinal detachments, macular hole surgery, wide-field viewing systems for vitreoretinal surgery, endoscopic vitrectomy, intravitreal hyaluronidase for recalcitrant vitreous hemorrhage, submacular surgery, macular translocation surgery, photodynamic therapy for macular degeneration, and indocyanine green dye-assisted peeling of the internal limiting membrane. Most recently, we have introduced 25g vitrectomy surgery, which allows sutureless surgery and very fast and comfortable recovery. Our treatment of macular degeneration is now more successful than ever before, with the addition of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections and feeder-vessel laser therapy with ultra high-speed indocyanine green angiography to our treatment armementarium.
Our Department includes three full time vitreoretinal surgeons (Drs Devenyi, Lam and Mandelcorn) as well as two Medical Retina Specialists (Drs Brent and Harvey). In addition, we train three vitreoretinal surgical fellows per year, from counties all over the world.
Our Department is also very involved in research in the field. We have been involved in numerous large multi-center trials, including the Diabetic Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), the Tolrestat Trial, the Hyaluronidase for Vitreous Hemorrhage Trial, the TAP Studies for Macular Degeneration, the Vitrasert Trial for macular edema, and many other studies. In addition, we have two Medical Retinal Specialists (Drs Brent and Harvey) and numerous other researchers working with us, investigation all aspects of retinal disease. We work in close conjunction with the Vision Science Research Program(VSRP), under the direction of Dr Steinbach.
