News Releases: Retina

• NEI study conducted at Emory provides clarity on supplements for protection against AMD
  May 9, 2013 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center clinical research contributed to the recent findings of a multi-year National Eye Institute (NEI) study, AREDS2 (Age-Related Eye Disease Study). Results concluded that adding omega-3 fatty acids did not improve a combination of nutritional supplements commonly recommended for treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a major cause of vision loss among older Americans.

• New device for end-stage macular degeneration that may help some see better
  Jan. 2, 2013 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center is the first center in Georgia to offer a new technology proven to help the vision of some patients with end-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

• Emory Eye Center says smartphone can be a new tool in emergency department diagnosis
  July 23, 2012 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center investigators have found that smartphone displays are as good, and may be better, for reading fundus photographs of the back of the eye (retina and optic nerve) than desktop computer monitors.

• Child Survivors of Eye Cancer to Gather for Emory's 14th Annual Retinoblastoma Day Picnic in May
  Apr. 30, 2012 | (ATLANTA) The fourteenth annual RB Picnic, coordinated by Emory Eye Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, at Mason Mill Park, 1340 McConnell Dr. in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma (RB).

• Emory Eye Center to Host 26th Southeastern Vitreoretinal Seminar (SEVR)
  Jan. 12, 2012 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center will host the 26th Southeastern Vitreoretinal Seminar (SEVR) at the Eye Center's Calhoun Auditorium within the Learning Resources Center in The Emory Clinic, Building B. The meeting will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, February 17, 2012. The annual seminar addresses issues of the retina and treatments for its various disorders.

• Startup Receives $4 Million to Develop Drug Delivery Targeted to the Back of the Eye
  Jan. 5, 2012 | (ATLANTA) Technology developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University for delivering drugs and other therapeutics to specific locations in the eye provides the foundation for a startup company that has received a $4 million venture capital investment.

• Emory Eye Center Researcher Co-editor of New Textbook on Drug Delivery to the Back of the Eye
  Sept. 30, 2011 | (ATLANTA) A new textbook, Drug Product Development for the Back of the Eye (aapspress/Springer), edited by Emory Eye Center researcher Henry F. Edelhauser, PhD and Uday B. Kompella, PhD, of the University of Colorado, explores approaches for a delivery system to get drugs to the back of the eye. In the past, drug delivery was typically systemic and not targeted to where it might do the most good for the particular ophthalmic disease and disorder.

• Three Emory Eye Center physicians honored in "135 Leading Ophthalmologists
  in America" listing
  August 25, 2011 | (ATLANTA) Maria M. Aaron, MD, Timothy W. Olsen, MD and J. Bradley Randleman, MD were elected to Becker's Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) Review's "135 Leading Ophthalmologists in America" list. Honorees are selected based on the awards they have received from major organizations in the field, leadership in those organizations, work on professional publications and their positions of service. 

• Newly Patented Microneedle for Ocular Drug Delivery: Smaller is Better
  April 28, 2011 | (ATLANTA) A goal of ophthalmology researchers is to deliver medication to the back of the eye in a selective and minimally invasive way. An Emory Eye Center scientist and two fellow researchers have investigated opportunities and have recently been awarded a U.S. patent for application of microneedle technology, designed to do just that. Filed for in 2007 and awarded in April 2011, the patent (US 7,918,814) was awarded to Henry F. Edelhauser, Emory Eye Center’s former director of research, along with Mark Prausnitz, professor of chemical and biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Ninghao Jiang, a research graduate student at Georgia Tech, now employed at CNA, a non-profit research organization in Virginia.

• NIH Study Finds Avastin and Lucentis Are Equally Effective In Treating Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  April 29, 2011 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center and other study centers have been a part of a two-year national clinical trial evaluating two drugs for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Results from the first year of the trial among 43 eye institutions show that Avastin—a drug approved to treat some cancers and that is commonly used off-label to treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD)—is as effective as the Food and Drug Administration-approved drug Lucentis for the treatment of AMD.

• Child Survivors of Eye Cancer to Gather for Emory’s 13th Annual RB Picnic in May
  Apr. 14, 2011 | (ATLANTA) The thirteenth annual RB Picnic, coordinated by Emory Eye Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at Mason Mill Park, 1340 McConnell Dr. in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma (RB).

• 25th Annual Southeastern Vitreoretinal Seminar (SEVR)
  Jan. 25, 2011 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center will host the 25th Southeastern Vitreoretinal Seminar (SEVR) at the Eye Center’s Calhoun Auditorium within the Learning Resources Center in The Emory Clinic, Building B. The meeting will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 11, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 12. The annual seminar addresses issues of the retina and treatments for its various disorders. The retina is the light-sensitive layer of tissue that lines the inside of the eye and sends visual messages through the optic nerve to the brain. Disorders and diseases of the retina include age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachments, macular holes and puckers, and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), among others.

• Emory Eye Center Offers Retina Service On Atlanta’s Northside.  Physician Steven Yeh Will See Patients at The Emory Clinic - Perimeter
  Sept. 13, 2010 | (ATLANTA) In a move to provide increased services and convenience for patients on the north side of Atlanta, Emory Eye Center now offers Retina clinics at its Perimeter location on Johnson Ferry Road. While The Emory Clinic at Perimeter has offered refractive surgery (Emory Vision) for several years—and Cornea clinics more recently— its growing services now include Retina care for those living in the north metro area.

• Emory's 12th Annual RB Picnic Celebrates Lives of Children Who Have Survived Eye Cancer
  April 23, 2010 | The twelfth annual RB Picnic, coordinated by Emory Eye Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at WD Thompson Park, off Mason Mill Road in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma (RB).

• Emory Eye Center Director Receives Young Investigator Award From Macula Society
  March 24, 2010 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center Director Timothy W. Olsen, MD, F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Professor of Ophthalmology, recently received the 2010 Macula Society Young Investigator Award at the 33rd annual meeting in late February. Founded in 1977, the prestigious Macula Society is a forum for new research in retinal vascular and macular diseases (the macula is the center of the retina, responsible for the sharp, central vision we need for reading, driving, recognizing faces, and seeing fine detail).

  The Young Investigator Award (formerly the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award) is presented “to that individual or group of individuals under 50 years of age whose work gives promise of notable advance in the clinical treatment of disorders of the eye.” As the award recipient, Dr. Olsen presented the keynote lecture: “The Role of Mitochondria in the Aging Macula.”

• Emory Eye Center to Have Presence At Emory Clark-Holder Clinic, LaGrange

  August 28, 2008 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center physician Jiong Yan, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Emory School of Medicine and retina specialist within Emory Eye Center, now sees patients at Emory Clark-Holder Clinic in LaGrange, Ga. in addition to her duties at Emory Eye Center and the Veterans Administration Medical Center. Dr. Yan will see patients on every other Thursday of the month.

• Emory's 11th Annual RB Picnic Celebrates Lives of Children Who Have Survived Eye Cancer

  April 20, 2009 | (ATLANTA)  The eleventh annual RB Picnic, coordinated by Emory Eye Center, will be held from  9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at WD Thompson Park, off Mason Mill Road in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma (RB).

• Clinical Trial Aims to Help Those with Macular Degeneration Find New Way of Seeing

  December 4, 2008 | (ATLANTA) The brain’s remarkable ability to reorganize itself to compensate for vision loss, the ability called plasticity, may be the key in helping those with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) see better. This theory is the impetus behind a study between Emory Eye Center and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Psychology). Patients who have retinal damage because of AMD sometimes begin to see by using other parts of the intact retina.

• Emory Eye Center to Participate in a Clinical Research Study to Investigate a Promising New Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity
  October 23, 2008 | (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center along with 10 other sites across the country will participate in a Phase I research study to establish a safety profile for an anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) drug, Avastin ® (Bevacizumab), for premature babies with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

• Diabetic Eye Disease Month Underscores Need for Annual Eye Exams
  (ATLANTA) November is both American Diabetes Month and Diabetic Eye Disease Month. More Americans than ever have diabetes. In fact, 8 percent of the population has diabetes - 23.6 million children and adults. Of those individuals, only about 18 million have been diagnosed. Additionally, some 57 million Americans are pre-diabetic. Oct. 10, 2008

• Emory's 10th Annual RB Picnic Celebrates Lives of Children Who have Survived Eye Cancer
  May 9, 2008 | (ATLANTA) The tenth annual RB Picnic, coordinated by Emory Eye Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at WD Thompson Park, off Mason Mill Road in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma (RB).

• Emory Eye Center to Lead Nationwide Study to Compare Two Drugs That Treat Macular Degeneration
  (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center will be the lead center among 47 other eye institutions across the country in a National Eye Institute (NEI) / National Institutes of Health funded study to compare two drugs made by the same company that treat age-related macular degeneration (AMD). March 4, 2008

• Emory Eye Center Faculty To Present at Foundation Fighting Blindness Seminar
  ATLANTA) Four Emory Eye Center faculty members will present information on retinal diseases and treatments at a Foundation Fighting Blindness half-day seminar on Saturday, March 29, in Atlanta. The event is free and open to the public.  “Macular Degeneration, RP and Related Diseases” will focus on treatments and therapies, research advances and low vision resources to help in day-to-day activities. February 26, 2008

• Emory To Provide Innovative Implant to Patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa
  ATLANTA--Ten persons with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) from across the U.S. and Mexico have been selected to participate in a "compassionate trial" at Emory Eye Center. Dec. 6, 2007

• Emory Names Timothy W. Olsen Ophthalmology Chair, Director of Emory Eye Center
  ATLANTA - Timothy W. Olsen, MD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, and director of Emory Eye Center. He will hold the F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Chair. His appointment is effective Jan. 1, 2008. September 18, 2007

• Emory Eye Center Awarded Grant from Foundation Fighting Blindness for Retinal Degeneration ATLANTA - Emory Eye Center recently was awarded a $309,000 grant for three years from the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) to support the study of synthetic bile acids to treat retinal degeneration. Aug. 6, 2007

• Emory Eye Center Suggests Eye Exam for Those Over 40
  (ATLANTA) The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recently disseminated results of a 1,200 person survey that reports that only 11% of Americans consider themselves at risk for any sort of eye disease. The AAO reports further states that those who are most at risk are typically unaware. Those findings are echoed by Emory Eye Center physicians, who find that to be true on a daily basis. August 1, 2007

• Emory’s RB Pinic Promises a Heartwarming Celebration of Life Along with Colorful, Fun Activities for Children Who Have Survived RB—Cancer of the Eye
  (ATLANTA) The ninth annual RB Picnic, coordinated by the Emory Eye Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 2, at WD Thompson Park, off Mason Mill Road in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma. May 14, 2007

• Emory Eye Center Study Finds Laser Treatment Does Not Prevent Vision Loss for People with Early Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  (ATLANTA) Low-intensity laser treatment, thought to be possibly beneficial in slowing or preventing the loss of vision from age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is ineffective in preventing complications of AMD or loss of vision, according to a study published in the November 2006 journal Ophthalmology. November 2, 2006

• New Nationwide Study Will Evaluate Effect of Antioxidants and Fish Oil on Progression of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Nearly 100 Clinical Centers Are Now Seeking 4,000 Study Participants Ages 50 - 85 Who Have AMD
  (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center along with other eye centers across the country will be a part of The National Institutes of Health (NIH) nationwide study to see if a modified combination of vitamins, minerals, and fish oil can further slow the progression of vision loss from AMD, the leading cause of vision loss in the United States for people over age 60. October 12, 2006

• Macular Degeneration Immune Studies at Emory Eye Center Receive $1 Million Grant From Dobbs FoundationNew Researcher Santa Jeremy Ono Will Establish Dobbs Laboratory for AMD
  ATLANTA- Emory Eye Center has been awarded a a $1 million grant from the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation. The grant will support the research of Santa Jeremy Ono, PhD, by establishing a new laboratory to investigate the role of immunity in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (the leading cause of blindness in aged individuals). September 21, 2006

• Research at Emory Eye Center Contributes to FDA Approval of New Treatment For Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  (ATLANTA) Emory Eye Center retina specialists participated in clinical trials that have concluded that a new drug holds hope in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Clinical trials here at Emory and throughout the country have lead to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of Lucentis™ (ranbizumab injection), a new intravitreal drug that treats the “wet” type of macular degeneration. The drug is made by Genentech. July 25, 2006

• Emory’s RB pinic promises a heartwarming celebration of life along with colorful, fun activities for children who have survived RB—Cancer of the eye
  ( ATLANTA ) The seventh annual RB Picnic , coordinated by the Emory Eye Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7 , at WD Thompson Park, off Mason Mill Road in Decatur. This very special event promises a day of fun and celebration for both the young patients and their families who have faced this formerly fatal childhood cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma. April 21, 2005

• Emory Eye Center implants its first retinal chips in patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa in expanded U.S. clinical trial
  (ATLANTA) An expanded clinical trial conducted by Optobionics Corporation involving the implantation of a retina mircrochip has allowed Emory Eye Center and the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research & Development Center to implant the device in several patients. The patients all have retinitis pigmentosa with moderate-to-severe vision loss. Three centers in the United States have been chosen to conduct the expanded trial. Other than Emory and the VA Rehabilitation R&D Center they include Rush University Medical Center’s Department of Ophthalmology and the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. February 10, 2005

• New drug for "Wet" Macular Degeneration offers new treatment for the blinding disease says Emory Eye Center physician
  (ATLANTA) A new drug for treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration, known as AMD, has been approved by the FDA recently. AMD is a serious disease of the retina that can lead to severe vision loss and blindness. February 10, 2005

• Emory Eye Center treats first patient in the country in age-related macular degeneration trial using new treatment system
  Emory Eye Center recently treated the first patient in the United States using a new system developed by the Theragenics Corporation. The new clinical trial has been designed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the new TheraSight Ocular Brachytherapy System for the treatment of sub-foveal choroidal neovascularization associated with exudative (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This is a pilot study of three doses of radiation delivered to 30 patients at up to six clinical sites, Emory Eye Center among them. Favorable results of this study may be used to expand to a larger pivotal trial designed to further test the safety and effectiveness of the TheraSight System. October 27, 2004

• Early treatment of blinding eye disease in infant can prevent severe vision loss says Emory Ophthalmologist
  An important clinical trial, sponsored by the National Eye Institute (NEI), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has provided doctors with improved prognostic indicators and treatment options for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a blinding disease that affects premature, low birthweight infants. ROP spurs the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the back of the eye. These vessels leak fluid and blood and scar the nerve tissue inside the eye, increasing the risk of retinal detachment and severe vision loss in infants. January 6, 2004

• Emory Eye Center physician echoes PBA's warning that Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in American adults
  November 1-30 is Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month. Many are unaware that diabetes can lead to vision loss when untreated. phthalmologists at the Emory Eye Center routinely treat patients who have the particular complications of diabetes that affect their vision. Of the approximately 17 million Americans with diabetes, about 6 million do not even know they have the disease. About one million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year, and close to half a million Americans die every year from complications of the disease says Prevent Blindness America (PBA), the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. November 11 , 2003

• MCG Health System partners with Emory and Georgia in pilot eye screening procedure project
  Augusta, Ga. -- MCG Health System, along with Emory Eye Center and the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR), are sponsoring a pilot project that they hope will lead to statewide eye screenings for diabetics. Diabetes is a blood sugar disorder that can lead to serious complications, including blindness. It is estimated that more than 14 million diabetics across the country are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, a blinding disorder characterized by damage to blood vessels of the retina. In Georgia alone, there are nearly 140,000 estimated cases of diabetic retinopathy among those ages 18 and older. August 20 , 2003

• Emory Eye Center Director Aaberg honored with election to prestigious Honor Medical Society
  Thomas M. Aaberg, Sr., MD, director of the Emory Eye Center and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, was recently elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the National Honor Medical Society. Selection is based not only on professional achievements but also on integrity, capacity for leadership, compassion, and fairness in dealing with colleagues. “This honor is thus a testimony to your academic excellence and outstanding surgical and teaching skills you have demonstrated as a member of the faculty at Emory University School of Medicine,” said Jonas A. Shulman, MD, acting faculty councillor of the AOA Beta Chapter of Georgia. "Dr. Aaberg is an outstanding role model for our medical students,” says Thomas J. Lawley, Dean of the Emory School of Medicine. “He combines dedication to teaching and research with his skill as an excellent clinician. Emory is very fortunate to have Dr. Aaberg as one of our leaders." April 3, 2003

• Emory Ophthalmologist receives inaugural Jahnigen
  Career Development Scholars Award Emory Eye Center ophthalmologist Enrique Garcia-Valenzuela, MD, has been selected as one of ten inaugural Jahnigen Career Development Scholars. The Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Awards were created to encourage young physicians and surgeons to become interested in the geriatrics aspect of their discipline as a career focus through the funding of highly competitive two-year awards in the amount of $200,000. Dr. Garcia was selected for this program because of the promise demonstrated in his proposal, his mentors' sponsorship and his institution's support of his work. August 6, 2002

• How Diabetes Can Adversely Affect your eyes
  November 1-30 is Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month. Many are unaware that diabetes can lead to vision loss when untreated. Ophthalmologists at the Emory Eye Center routinely treat patients who have the particular complications of diabetes that affect their vision. Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes, which can weaken the retina and block, distort or blur vision. While no one knows why diabetes sometimes causes abnormal blood vessels to form in the back of the eye, current research is providing some answers. With diabetic retinopathy these new vessels can leak fluid into the retina or vitreous humor (the jelly that fills the eye) and contract, distort or detach the retina. November 2, 2001

• Emory Eye Center Reports Important Findings from National AREDS Study: Macular Degeneration Progression Can Be Slowed for Those at High Risk
  Findings were released today detailing the results of an important 10-year study which had a two-fold purpose: • To assess the clinical course, prognosis, and risk factors of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract. • To evaluate, in randomized clinical trials, the effects of pharmacologic doses of antioxidants and zinc on the progression of AMD and (2) antioxidants on the development and progression of lens opacities (cataract). Titled the Age- Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), the clinical trial was conducted at 11 centers across the country, including the Emory Eye Center. The results show that there is a relatively simple way to help prevent the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in patients at high risk of the disease. “This is a particularly important finding since prior to this study, there was no way to slow the progression of AMD,” says Principal Investigator Daniel F. Martin, M.D., a vitreoretinal specialist at the Emory Eye Center. The AREDS was sponsored by the National Eye Institute (NEI), one of the federal government's National Institutes of Health. The study’s findings are reported in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. Oct. 12, 2001

• Photodynamic therapy shows promise in halting progression of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  Researchers at the Emory Eye Center are offering new hope to patients with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in Americans over age 50. Research conducted at Emory and other sites worldwide show that a new type of photodynamic therapy (PDT) called Visudyne™ therapy, which received FDA approval April 13, shows promising results in halting progression of this sight-stealing disorder. April 13, 2000

• Macular Degeneration research
  Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among Americans over age 50. The macula, which is about the size of this "o," is located in the center of the retina, the area we use for reading and central vision. No one knows the exact cause of AMD, even though age is a risk factor, or how to prevent it.

• New, Stronger Form of Ganciclovir Offers Simpler Treatment for CMV Retinitis in Immune-Comprised Patients
  Researchers have successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of a new experimental oral form of the drug ganciclovir to treat cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, a blinding disorder that is the most common ocular manifestation of AIDS. Daniel F. Martin, M.D., who is an associate professor at the Emory Eye Center and lead investigator for the multicenter valganciclovir trial, presented the findings at the 7th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francisco on January 31. January 31, 2000

• Patients Needed for Study on Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  Emory Eye Center is recruiting patients for a national clinical trial to determine whether laser treatment decreases vision loss for individuals who may be at risk for severe age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is a common eye disease of the macula, a tiny area in the retina that helps produce sharp, central vision required for "straight ahead" activities such as reading, sewing, and driving. A person with AMD -- the leading cause of severe visual impairment in Americans 60 years of age and older -- loses this clear, central vision. An estimated 1.7 million Americans have AMD. July 29, 1999

• Emory offers latest treatments for retinopathy of prematurity
  So much is at stake when a child comes into the world too soon. The heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and brain aren’t ready yet for the harsh realities of living and breathing. Especially when the baby exits the warm, protected environment of the womb at halftime, considerably before the normal 40-week gestation period. Technology and expertise, though, have gotten us far, and more and more of these tiny babies survive and thrive. Even with the advent of good medicine, these babies can face another hurdle: a condition called retinopathy of prematurity or ROP. It’s a blinding disease of the retina, the part of the eye that translates light into visual messages. April 1999

• Macular degeneration pioneering research from the Emory Eye Center
  The wet or exudative form of macular degeneration can significantly damage vision. This blinding disorder results when abnormal blood vessels form and leak fluid and blood underneath the retina — in the layer of the retina in the back of the eye called the choroid. The choroid’s blood vessels, combined with tissue, can form a scar-like membrane under the retina and block central vision. December 1998

• What is choroidal melanoma?
  Choroidal melanoma is a collection of abnormal, pigmented cells within the choroid, which is the layer of tissue in the back of the eye between the retina and sclera (the white of the eye). Choroidal melanoma is the most common type of primary intraocular tumor in adults. Because this type of tumor occurs inside the eye, it is best detected early by a thorough annual exam of the back of the eye by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. Unlike other melanomas, doctors can see the tumor through the pupil of the eye.

• New technology helps diagnose eye tumors and other blinding diseases in children
  The technology provides a high-resolution, 120-degree view of the retina. Standard cameras, which provide 30- to 60-degree views, miss the periphery of the retina. “The RetCam 120 is particularly useful for retinoblastoma, which can involve a large portion of the retina, and for retinopathy of prematurity, the leading cause of blindness in premature infants,” says Thomas Aaberg, Jr., MD, a retina surgeon and tumor specialist. “Early detection and medical or surgical intervention can help these children keep their sight, and in the case of retinoblastoma, save their lives.” May 7, 1998