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As we've grown into a large regional vision care center, we always keep the importance of each indvidual patient in mind. Whatever your vision problem, our skilled and experienced doctors take the time to insure the most successful outcomes every time you visit us.
Blending exceptional patient care with the latest innovations in medical technology is our way of giving you the best of both worlds. It's a philosophy that works for the way you see the world. At EyeCare Associates, we care. You'll see. |
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 For
those of you in Athens area, you may have noticed that we
have temporarily moved down the street, to 805 South Palestine.
We are in the process of designing a new office building
to be constructed on the lot of our previous building. Same
great location with new and updated facilities! Dr. Valerie
Mace is doing a wonderful job taking care of our Athens patients
five days a week. Dr. Schreiber is now seeing all his patients
in the Tyler office. We are excited about offering full-time
EyeCare service in Athens, including a great Optical Shop
to meet your every need. Please be patient with us during
this time of transition as we are doing our best to create
an environment that meets your every EyeCare need! |
 DSEK is an abbreviation for Descemet's Stripping with Endothelial Keratoplasty. Also known as a posterior penetrating keratoplasty, it involves replacing some of the posterior or inner layers of the cornea. The standard corneal transplant replaces the full thickness of the cornea. In both cases, a living cornea from a donor and provided by the Eye Bank is used.
With DSEK, there are definite advantages compared to a full-thickness transplant. A smaller wound is made and fewer sutures are needed. In some cases, no sutures are used at all. During surgery, the thin inner layers of the donor cornea are folded like a taco and inserted into the eye of the patient. It is unfolded and held in place with an air bubble. Because of the smaller wound, the eye heals faster and vision can return in 3-6 months instead of up to a year or more with a standard transplant. The eye is much less susceptible to injury and rupture in the event of an accident. Sutures can lead to problems such as infection or irritation. These problems are greatly reduced. Most remarkable of all, one's prescription for glasses will be very similar to the prescription before surgery. With standard corneal transplant, large changes in the amount of astigmatism, nearsightedness, or farsightedness are to be expected.
Rejection can still occur. If the portion of the donor cornea does not properly attach, air may need to be injected to push the donor cornea back in place.
DSEK is showing itself to be the greatest improvement in corneal transplant surgery since transplants began.
In September of 2006, I was fortunate to travel and study with Dr. Francis Price of Indianapolis who has been the foremost innovator and developer of this procedure. This included hands on training and going to surgery wit Dr. Price. Postoperative patients were examined at various stages in their recovery, and excellent visual results were noted. In all cases where a patient had both a traditional transplant in one eye and a DSEK transplant in the other eye, that patient preferred the DSEK eye.
In November of 2006, after the delivery of new instrumentation, I was proud to have introduced this procedure to East Texas.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if I might answer any of your questions. I am proud to be a part of this exciting new development.
Clayton E. Whitney, M.D.
At EyeCare Associates, we are constantly looking for new ways to improve the care we provide to our patients. As a result, we are proud to announce that we recently introduced the Oculus Pentacam HR to our arsenal of cutting-edge diagnostic equipment. Being first in our medical community to offer this new technology is a great advantage to our patients.
The Pentacam HR uses a newly developed technology to get a one-of-a-kind photographic view of the eye. The "HR" stands for high resolution and pertains to the rotating high-resolution camera at he heart of the Pentacam. While the test takes only two seconds, the resulting data is truly astounding.
The Pentacam computes a 3D model o the front of the eye reflecting detail down to the micron level. Although there are many applications for this new technology, the greatest benefit will be for our Lasik and cataract patients.
In evaluating patients, making sure that the cornea has no abnormalties of shape or thickness (e.g. keratoconus) is of the utmost importance. There is simply no better way to evaluate for these potential problems than the Pentacam. It provides a new measure of safety in which our patients can take comfort.
The Pentacam also takes a true measurement of the back curvature of the cornea, which gives a more accurate reading of the overall curvature. These measurements are essential to accurately calculating the lens implant power for cataract surgery. It will be especially helpful in the ever-growing population of cataract patients who have had previous PRK or Lasik surgery as their corneas are not read accurately with older methods.
The doctors at EyeCare Associates are enthusiastic about this new technology and the ability to offer it to our patients. We always want to offer it to patients what we would choose for our own families.
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