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Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment
Diabetic Retinopathy Treatment
We encourage patients with diabetes to include retinal specialists like ours in their care team. Our specialists have the experience and expertise needed to watch for diabetic retinopathy, then to determine when and how to treat the condition.
Our care and treatment of diabetic retinopathy includes the full spectrum of options:
- Prevention: Our doctors work with your other care providers to keep blood sugar, blood pressure and lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) in check — all ways to delay the appearance of retinopathy, then slow its progression. We also provide regular screenings to catch the condition in its earliest stages.
- Anti-VGEF injections: When possible, treatment starts by injecting the eye with medications that stop blood vessels from leaking and block a protein (vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF) needed for new growth. Because the body makes more protein, another injection is usually needed within 30 to 60 days. Our doctors are working on more durable options, but for now offer expertise with the current drugs:
- Avastin (bevacizumab)
- Eylea (aflibercept)
- Lucentis (ranibizumab)
- Laser therapy: Lasers provide an option when injections do not work, and we pioneered one of the newer systems — the PASCAL, or pattern-scanning laser. Laser therapy is applied one of two ways, depending on the stage of the disease:
- Focal laser: This laser focuses on the area around the macula and treats leaking blood vessels, as well as swelling.
- PRP (pan-retinal photocoagulation): Also called scatter laser, it prevents faulty new blood vessels from forming.
Learn more about our Byers Eye Institute.