What You Should Know About...
Retinal Vascular Disease

The eye is like a camera.  The lens at the front of your eye focuses light onto your retina – the thin nerve layer at the back of the eye that transmits images via the optic nerve to your brain.  

The retinal vascular system is composed of arteries, veins and capillaries. The blood vessels that provide blood to and nourish the retina are the central retinal artery and the branch retinal arteries.  The central retinal vein and branch retinal veins remove blood and waste products from the retina.  The capillaries are thin, fragile vessels embedded in tissue that connect the arteries and veins. 

A blockage or occlusion in any part of the retinal vascular system can threaten your vision.  These include:

• Retinal artery occlusion (RAO)
• Branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO)
• Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO)

Our highly skilled ophthalmologist, who specializes in treating retinal eye disease, gives therapeutic injections of Avastin and triamcinolone acetonide to reduce macular edema, swelling in the eye associated with BRVO and CRVO.  He also utilizes focal laser treatment and/or laser photocoagulation to treat macular edema and neovascularization that are also associated with retinal vascular disease.  Surgical options such as radial optic neurotomy and AV sheathotomy may be recommended in certain circumstances.

Laser treatments are available in all 5 of our offices.  Therapeutic injections and surgical treatments take place at our conveniently located Plymouth Laser & Surgery Center.

Overview of Retinal Vascular Disease
Venous Diseases
Arterial Diseases
Therapeutic Injections for Retinal Vascular Diseases
Laser Treatment for Retinal Vascular Diseases
Surgical Treatment for Retinal Vascular Diseases