Cataract Treatment

Effective cataract treatment without hospitalization

• What is a cataract?
• Cataract diagnosis in Cherkasy
• The cost of cataract surgery
• Causes of cataracts

What is a Cataract?

It is a clouding of the lens of the eye which leads to a decrease in vision. For people who have cataracts, seeing through cloudy lenses is a bit like looking through a frosty or fogged-up window. Things look blurry, hazy or less colorful with a cataract.

The disease progression is likely to lead to a total loss of vision, if they do not start treatment in time. The lens is located behind the iris. It functions a lot like a camera lens i.e. focuses light rays onto the retina, allowing an image of the object of interest to be formed on the retina and then transfers it to the brain. In youth, the lens is transparent and elastic, so light enters the eye easily and a person can see close up and distant objects equally well. However, over time, the lens becomes cloudy and loses its ability to focus images.

Cataract: Symptoms

• Gradual loss of vision which may lead to blindness. It seems like you are looking at things through a fog or an opaque film.
• Blurry vision.
• Fading of colors.
• Distance and near-vision impairment.
• Clouded or dim vision.
• Eye floaters and flashes appear periodically.
• Sensitivity to bright light.
• Difficulty reading small print, it becomes difficult to sew and do similar detail-oriented work.
• Double vision, image distortion.
• Yellowish or white pigment in the lens.

With rapid progression of lens opacity, the lens increases in size and intraocular pressure goes up abruptly, which is invariably accompanied by severe pain and can lead to irreversible vision loss.

Сataract Diagnosis

A comprehensive diagnosis using modern equipment takes about an hour. All procedures are absolutely painless, because most tests are non-invasive.

It is better when cataracts are detected at an early stage, so persons over 40 should undergo preventive eye exams regularly – once a year. It will allow them to timely diagnose the disease and decide on a surgical procedure.

The diagnosis includes several mandatory procedures:

• Visual Acuity Test;
• Eye Pressure Test (Pneumotonometry);
• Location of the Visual Axis; the Refractive Power of the Cornea;
• Lens Size Measurements and the Modelling of an Intraocular Lens (IOL) Implant;
• Stereo Fundus Biomicroscopy – Fundus Examination with the slit-lamp with the Goldmann lens.

Cost of Cataract Surgery

There is no age limitation for phacoemulsification. It can be prescribed at any stage of cataract development.

In the early stages of the disease, after an individual examination of a patient the ophthalmologist may prescribe special eye drops that will help slow down the development of cataracts.

However, the problem can be eliminated only through a microsurgical operation, when the clouded lens is removed and an artificial intraocular lens is implanted in its place.

Cataract phacoemulsification is a modern, effective and minimally invasive, small-incision technique, which in the vast majority of cases helps patients restore high visual acuity.

The patients with cataracts must undergo a comprehensive preoperative diagnostic evaluation with an advisory opinion of an eye doctor.

Anesthesia – Surgery – Postoperative Care

The cataract surgery is carried out under local anesthetic via intravenous drip (special anaesthetizing drops instilled into a patient`s eyes).

Then a surgeon makes a tiny incision in the eye to insert a needle-thin probe, which transmits ultrasound waves, into the lens substance where a cataract has formed, to break up (emulsify) the cataract and suction out the fragments.

In place of the cataract-clouded lens, a foldable intraocular lens is positioned, i.e. an artificial lens that will now focus images like a new camera.
After the surgery, the tiny incision heals up completely without any sutures.

The advantages of such surgery are the following:

• It is performed on an outpatient basis;
• It is painless;
• It is bloodless;
• No sutures required;
• It lasts approximately 20-30 minutes.

According to the World Health Organization, after having lens replacement surgery, the patient`s vision has potential to recover fully, depending the functional state of the retina, the optic nerve and other related factors.

Ophthalmologists of Okomedikas Clinic have many years of experience with cataract surgery, and modern equipment of high accuracy allows them to perform complex eye surgeries with great efficiency.

You can undergo a comprehensive eye examination here, as well as get an individual cataract treatment program.

If cataract surgery is necessary, our doctors will help you prepare for your operation and select the type of IOL which is best for you. Our staff is very hospitable and attentive and postoperative care will be provided until you are fully recovered.

In the Clinic we only use the best models of intraocular lens implants (IOLs) from the world famous manufacturers: USA, France, Germany, all of which are certified in Ukraine. Our own bank of lenses greatly facilitates the selection, because intraocular lenses intraocular lenses of a wide range of diopters can be found there. They are implanted in the eye with the help of special equipment – the lens injection system.
Such IOLs have a unique shape memory effect and, when implanted into a capsular bag, remain stable there, without dislocation. For each patient, an intraocular lens is selected and its optimum power is calculated individually during the preoperative eye examination. The cost of surgery depends on the chosen IOL.

Causes of Cataracts

Cataracts are the most common cause of vision loss in adults. According to statistics, every sixth person over the age of 40 has early signs of cataracts, and by age 80, almost everyone has cataracts.

The main cause of cataracts is the natural changes that come with aging. However, a clouding of a lens may start earlier or be accelerated by a number of factors,
including:

• harmful effects of UV radiation,
• environmental pollution,
• tobacco and alcohol abuse,
• unhealthy diets, excess weight and little physical activity,
• high blood pressure and diabetes,
• long-term use of corticosteroids and statins,
• eye injuries and bacterial eye diseases,
• heredity.

Cataract patients often have glaucoma as a concomitant disease. It is a dangerous chronic eye disease that is associated with elevated intraocular pressure. In glaucoma, damage to the optic nerve can lead to irreversible blindness. If a person is diagnosed with glaucoma, then glaucoma surgery must precede cataract surgery.