JOHN DOOLEY AND HIS DETACHED RETINA

 

Detached retina had Arlington Park track announcer John Dooley worried

Arlington Park track announcer John Dooley, who had surgery to repair a detached retina earlier this year, works the booth on Friday, June 17, 2011 in Arlington Heights. | Richard A. Chapman~Sun-Times

John Dooley used social media to tell the world about his health ­problems.

The track announcer at Arlington Park had just awakened from surgery to repair a detached retina when he went on Twitter and wrote that he had the surgery at Skokie Hospital. Dooley tweeted the news before he even told his boss, Kevin Clarke, the director of operations at Arlington.

‘‘I tweeted, ‘Wow, my first surgery, leaving Skokie Hospital after my detached retina surgery.’ And it let everyone know,’’ Dooley said.

Dooley, 45, called Clarke after sending out the tweet and can laugh about it now. But at the end of March, he was in shock and disbelief. Dooley’s livelihood is based on being able to see, so if his vision was in jeopardy, so were his chances of returning to work for the Arlington season, which began May 6.

Besides calling the races at Arlington, Dooley spends the winters doing the same at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. When the Fair Grounds’ season ended March 27, Dooley was preparing for the 15-hour drive home to the Chicago area. At the end of that week, he was planning to take a vacation to Ukraine.

Dooley began his drive home about 4:30 a.m. March 28. About halfway through, he noticed a dark halo in the left corner of his right eye.

‘‘I was chalking it up to tiredness,’’ said Dooley, who has been calling races for 20 years. ‘‘But the next day I stayed home, and then .  .  . I went to get a year’s supply of contact lenses,’’ Dooley said. ‘‘Instead, the doctor came in and said I needed to see an ophthalmologist that day.’’

Dooley went to see Dr. Zac Ravage, an ophthalmologist at the Illinois Retina Associates, who diagnosed him with a detached retina. Ravage ordered Dooley to have surgery that night at Skokie Hospital.

‘‘The next thing I know, I’m signing these papers and I’m in pre-op,’’ Dooley said. ‘‘It happened the day after the Fair Grounds meet ended, five weeks before Arlington opened and the day before I was supposed to go to Kiev. I didn’t have time to dwell on, ‘What if all this goes ­terribly wrong?’ ’’

Ravage said detached retinas usually occur in nearsighted people and are something that ‘‘just happens.’’ Ravage said Dooley would have lost half his vision had he waited to seek treatment.

The surgery took about two hours. Ravage said a silicone band was put around the eye to hold the retina in place.

‘‘He was eager to return to work,’’ Ravage said. ‘‘He was composed about it, but it is a lot for anyone to grasp.’’

Dooley didn’t have to do any physical therapy after the surgery, but he did wear an eye patch. His vision was good enough for him to return to Arlington in time for Opening Day in May.

‘‘I just wanted to get through the nine-race program, make no mistakes and go have a cold [beer],’’ Dooley said. ‘‘It was getting back to really using my eyes again. It had only been four weeks since my ­surgery.’’

Ravage said there’s always a chance the retina might not want to reattach itself after surgery and that one surgery might not be sufficient for some patients. But Dooley said he feels like he’s back to normal, even though he still is trying to get used to wearing glasses while he works.

‘‘I’ve never called [a race] with glasses until Opening Day at Arlington this May,’’ Dooley said. ‘‘But it’s really hard to call a race with glasses. It falls under the category of trying to teach an old dog new tricks. It really is a different world calling races with glasses on.’’

SIGHT RESTORED AFTER 55 YEARS

Man has sight restored after 55 years

Published on Wednesday 20 July 2011 21:43

After 55 years, a man who was blind in one eye has had his sight restored, The Daily Telegraph reported. The man was left completely blind in his right eye after being struck by a stone when he was eight.
The 63-year-old man’s unique case was explained in a journal article that detailed his loss of vision due to retinal detachment, where the light-sensitive retina peels off the back of the eye. The man then developed neovascular glaucoma (where abnormal new blood vessels begin growing inside the eye), which caused increased pressure in the eye, while clotted blood also collected in the chamber at the front of the eye. The man was not able to perceive any light in this eye. The case report described how after the blood was removed and the pressure in his damaged eye was reduced, the man was able to perceive some light for the first time in decades. This and the healthy colour of his retina prompted his doctors to attempt to reattach his retina.
After two operations, the man was able to count fingers from a distance of five metres. The authors of the case report said: “to the best of our knowledge, there has been no previous similar report of visual recovery in a patient with long standing traumatic retinal detachment”. As this was a case report of one person, it is unclear whether similar outcomes could be achieved in other people with long-standing retinal detachment. Nevertheless, this report highlights that attempted reattachment may be an option even in people with long-standing retinal detachment.

Where did the story come from?

The medical procedures were carried out by researchers from the Einhorn Clinical Research Center, New York. The study was published in the Journal of Medical Case Reports.
BBC News and The Daily Telegraph reported the research well.

What kind of research was this?

This was a case report of a 63-year-old man who had lost vision in his right eye 55 years before, after he was struck in the eye with a stone. The trauma caused him to go blind in that eye (he could not perceive light) due to the detachment of his retina, the light-sensitive layer lining the back of the eyeball. Although the initial injury occurred decades earlier, the man came to the attention of doctors at the age of 63, after he went to the doctor with pain and clotted blood filling the entire anterior chamber at the front of his eye (the part between the coloured iris and the clear cornea that covers the front of the eye). This collection of blood is called a total hyphema.
The patient had increased pressure in the eyeball which, after the anterior eye chamber was washed out and treatment given to control the pressure, was found to be due to neovascular glaucoma, a form of glaucoma involving the growth of new blood vessels inside the eye. This had developed as a consequence of the retinal detachment. The doctors then used a drug to treat this blood vessel growth. The patient regained some ability to perceive light and the doctors carried out a procedure to reattach his retina. Following this operation, the patient recovered some ability to see in his right eye.

What did the research involve?

As this was a case report, the research paper described in detail the medical history of a man who regained some functional vision after a long period of blindness in one eye caused by a detached retina.
When the man went to his doctor, as well as pain and redness in his eye, he also had diabetes and high pressure in his eye (60mmHg, compared to 16-21mmHg seen in most people’s eyes).
The man initially underwent a procedure to lower the pressure in his eye, and the anterior chamber of the eye was washed out. When the doctors carried out these procedures, they diagnosed that the raised pressure was due to neovascular glaucoma. The loss of oxygenated blood supply to the retina when it detached had caused abnormal new blood vessels to grow in the anterior chamber at the front of the eye in an attempt to try to restore the blood supply. The doctors administered injections of a drug called bevacizumab into the eye to stop the growth of new blood vessels.
Over eight weeks, the pressure in the man’s right eye began to come down and the man could perceive some light in his damaged eye. As the man had responded well to treatment, the doctors performed a procedure to see if reattaching his retina would improve his vision further.

What were the basic results?

After the surgery, the man’s vision improved so that he could count fingers held up five metres from him. He received two types of anti-glaucoma medication and the pressure in his right eye came down to around 12-17mmHg. Over the next year, his eye pressure remained stable.
One year after treatment, he was found to have areas of scarring on his retina and some retinal detachment. Further procedures were carried out to restore the attachment of the retina.
The man’s visual improvements in the damaged eye appeared to be sustained, and he was still able to count fingers at 5 metres.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers said that with modern surgical techniques, a greater than 90% success rate can be expected following repair of a typical retinal detachment. However, they pointed out that the amount of vision regained may vary. They said that the most important predictor of visual recovery after retinal detachment repair is a patient’s quality of sight before surgery. They also said that a shorter duration of detachment and younger age are important in visual recovery. The researchers said “to the best of our knowledge, there has been no previous similar report of visual recovery in a patient with long standing traumatic retinal detachment”.

Conclusion

This unusual case report described the restoration of some vision in a man who had not been able to perceive light in his right eye for 55 years after traumatic retinal detachment in that eye when he was child.
This report suggests that it may be possible to reattach the retina and allow a person to regain vision after a longer period of detachment than previously thought. While it does suggest that there may be an opportunity to treat problems that were once considered inoperable, the researchers point out that this man’s retina had remained healthy despite being detached for a long time. They also believe that the patient was able to regain vision because of the location of retinal detachment. As this was a case report of the treatment of just one person with specific circumstances, it is not possible to say whether other people with long-standing traumatic or non-traumatic retinal detachment would have similarly positive results.
Nevertheless, a case report such as this is useful as it shows that reattaching a retina after a long period of retinal detachment could be a therapeutic option. Further research is needed to determine the overall success rate.

Lutein and Retina Detachment

Lutein and Retina Detachment

Overview

The retina covers the inside of the back section of your eye. This tissue consists of light-sensitive cells that play a crucial part in the visual process. If the retina pulls away from the back of the eye, either from injury or an eye condition, this can result in serious, and sometimes permanent, vision loss. Nutrients such as lutein cannot prevent or treat a detachment, but lutein might offer other benefits for your retina.

Symptoms 

A detached retina will often cause a sudden change in vision. You might notice that you have a curtain or dark veil that covers all or part of the vision in your eye. Instead of complete vision loss, you might notice many new floaters, and these black spots might obstruct your vision.

Lutein

Lutein, an antioxidant nutrient, often accompanies zeaxanthin, a similar antioxidant. The retina holds large quantities of these two nutrients. Studies have found that lutein helps reduce the risk of certain eye diseases such as macular degeneration, but, as of 2011, no study has shown a specific connection to retinal detachments. However, in a 2009 study, researchers evaluated the effects of lutein in people with inflamed retinal tissue. The findings showed that the presence of lutein in the tissue might help protect the retinal nerves from damage during periods of inflammation.


Although this study does not relate directly to a detachment, a retinal detachment might result from inflammation, and, in theory, retinal nerves that have benefited from the protective effects of lutein might aid in healing and restoration of vision after surgical repair of the detachment.

Sources

Your body does not produce lutein, so you need to use diet or supplements to bring lutein into your body. Lutein-rich foods include dark green, leafy vegetables such as kale, collard greens and spinach. Other foods such as corn, broccoli and green beans also provide lutein, but do not have the rich lutein content of leafy greens.


If you do not follow a diet that gives you enough lutein, your doctor might recommend that you take a daily supplement. The amount of lutein you need will depend on your diet, health and the medications you use. Certain multivitamins contain lutein, and studies suggest lutein might help prevent eye diseases such as macular degeneration. Talk to your doctor about whether one of these multivitamins, often referred to as "eye vitamins," might benefit you.

Considerations

Contact your doctor at the first sign of a retinal detachment. If the vision changes occur on the weekend or late in the evening, go directly to the nearest emergency room. Waiting for treatment might reduce your chances of restoring vision.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/505238-lutein-and-retina-detachment/#ixzz1X80FvmUR

Eye scare won't stop tough Broncos prop Josh McGuire

BRONCOS prop Josh McGuire is fearless the way he plays rugby league. But he is still coming to terms with having to wear contact lenses after suffering a detached retina in a match against the Bulldogs on April 29.


The 21-year-old prop needed attention during Brisbane's 40-10 thrashing of the New Zealand Warriors at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night when he copped an accidental finger in the eye.

"The contact lens slipped out and went right around the back of the eye," Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said last night.

"It was just a little poke in the eye, but Josh gets a fright when these things happen, as you would expect after what he went through."

McGuire made 22 hit-ups against the Warriors, a rate bettered only by lock Corey Parker with 23.
Former Test prop Arthur Beetson said yesterday McGuire had "come of age".

"He's learnt his role as a prop," Beetson said.

"People underestimate him because he is not real tall. But he is still around 108kg, he is immensely mobile and has a great motor."

Griffin said McGuire and Test centre Justin Hodges would be be fit to play St George Illawarra at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, with Hodges having returned from a hamstring injury against the Warriors.

Hodges sent a scare through the Broncos camp when he got up limping after scoring a try in the 73rd minute, but it turned out to be nothing more than a bit of hip soreness.

"I had my heart in my mouth when it happened, especially as Hodgo was meant to have been inter-changed earlier," Griffin said.