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Physician Insight:
Importance of Early Detection of Diabetic Retinopathy
Eye Disease: Shawnee Mission Medical Center will showcase a procedure that can repair damaged blood vessels in the eye during a live surgery Webcast on September 20 at 7 pm CDT. Ophthalmologist/Retina Specialist David S. Dyer, MD, of Retina Associates, will perform a procedure known as diabetic vitrectomy, which lessens the damage that may have occurred due to diabetic retinopathy, a condition that damages the blood vessels in the retina.
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in American adults and is the most common diabetic eye disease. Close to fifty percent of people with diabetes have some degree of diabetic retinopathy. These blood vessels are often affected by the high blood sugar levels associated with the disease.
During this procedure, Dyer will make three small openings in the eye, extract the gel from the inside and remove any scarring. He will then perform a laser treatment to prevent the recurrence of abnormal blood vessels. At the end of the procedure Dyer will replace the gel he extracted with a gas, and over three weeks the body absorbs the gas and replaces it with a natural fluid. The procedure usually takes 45 minutes to one hour.
Often there are no symptoms or pain correlating with diabetic retinopathy, so it is important for diabetics to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam at least once a year.
Viewers can sign up for an e-mail reminder. During the Webcast viewers can submit questions to the physician to be answered live. They can also request an appointment or more information. The Webcast will be archived on the site for viewing following the live airing.
About Shawnee Mission Medical Center
Shawnee Mission Medical Center (SMMC) is a 383-bed facility and the second largest hospital in the Kansas City metropolitan area with nearly 20,000 inpatient admissions and more than 195,000 outpatient admissions annually. SMMC had the busiest emergency department in Johnson County, the area's first accredited Chest Pain Emergency Center, a nationally recognized Center for Women's Health and delivers more babies each year than any other hospital in the metropolitan area. SMMC employs more than 2,800 local residents and supports an exceptional staff of more than 700 physicians representing 50 medical specialties, the largest medical staff in Kansas City.
Participants
Featuring:
Melissa Magwire, RN
CDE, Diabetes Educator/Panelist
Beatty Suiter
Ophthalmologist
David Dyer, MD
Ophthalmologist