Retina Detachment

RETINAL DETACHMENT is an emergency situation which requires immediatly attention by an ophalmologist in order to receive medical help for saving the vision.

Retinal detachment separates the retinal cells from the layer of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nourishment. The longer retinal detachment goes untreated, the greater your risk of permanent vision loss in the affected eye.

Symptoms: Warning signs of retinal detachment may include one or all of the following: A sudden increase in the number of specks floating (floaters) in your vision and flashes as well as a “curtain” or shadow over your field of vision.

There are three different types of retinal detachment:

Rhegmatogenous: These types of retinal detachments are the most common and are caused by a hole or tear in the retina that allows fluid to pass through and collect underneath the retina and by that pulling the retina away from underlying tissues. The areas where the retina detaches lose their blood supply and stop working, causing you to lose vision.

The most common cause of rhegmatogenous detachment is aging. As you age, the gel-like material that fills the inside of your eye, known as the vitreous, may change in consistency and shrink or become more liquid. Normally, the vitreous separates from the surface of the retina without any complications — a common condition called posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). One complication of this separation is a tear.

As the vitreous separates or peels off the retina, it may tug on the retina with enough force to create a retinal tear. Left untreated, the liquid vitreous can pass through the tear into the space behind the retina, causing the retina to become detached.

Tractional: This type of detachment can occur when scar tissue grows on the retina's surface, causing the retina to pull away from the back of the eye. Tractional detachment is typically seen in people who have poorly controlled diabetes or other conditions.

Exudative: In this type of detachment, fluid accumulates beneath the retina, but there are no holes or tears in the retina. Exudative detachment can be caused by age-related macular degeneration, injury to the eye, tumors or inflammatory disorders.

Risk groups are:

• People who have high myopia
• People who had a cataract surgery before
• People with Family History of Retinal Detachment
• People with a prior severe eye trauma
• People of older age
• Marfan, Ehler-Danlos, Patients with Stickler syndrome

Treatment:

Depending on how much of your retina is detached and what type of retinal detachment you have a laser treatment or other types of surgery to fix any tears or breaks in your retina and reattach your retina to the back of your eye are needed to carried out. A ruptured Retinal Detachment in a initial stage is detected and diagnosed it can be treated by Argon Laser. For a later staged rhegmatogenous retinal detachment an eye surgery is mandatory.