Advances in Cataract Surgery - Yale Medicine Explains

Transcript

• 00:11The lens is a structure that's inside the eye.
• 00:14It focuses light onto the retina
• 00:16to allow for a clear image.
• 00:32A normal lens should be clear like a windshield.
• 00:35However, if you start to develop a cataract,
• 00:37it starts becoming a little yellow or even brown.
• 00:40When a cataract is forming,
• 00:42the proteins of your lens are starting to degrade.
• 00:46They change in consistency
• 00:47and so they're no longer able to maintain the clarity.
• 00:52Cataract can cause blurry vision or glare,
• 00:55especially at night.
• 00:56Most patients complain of difficulty driving at night
• 00:59or severe decline in their vision with oncoming car headlights.
• 01:05The most common cause for a cataract is age.
• 01:08Over time light and UV exposure
• 01:11cause the lens to become more cloudy.
• 01:14In an early cataract,
• 01:16most patients can improve their vision just with an update in their glasses
• 01:19or contact lens prescription.
• 01:21However, cataracts do get worse with age.
• 01:26Cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries that we do here.
• 01:30In cataract surgery, we remove the lens
• 01:33that has become cloudy
• 01:35and we replace it with a synthetic lens that has a prescription in it.
• 01:40The newest advancements  in cataract surgery include
• 01:42laser-assisted cataract surgery.
• 01:45There's also a technology called intraoperative aberrometry or ORA.
• 01:50This machine takes an extra measurement of your eye
• 01:53during the cataract surgery,
• 01:55which allows for more accurate measurement
• 01:57of the lens that's being  placed inside.
• 02:00Other advancements include
• 02:02design of the lens.
• 02:03So, every year there's newer and  newer lenses
• 02:06that give you better visual outcomes.
• 02:10Additionally, here, we can do cataract  surgery
• 02:13in combination with glaucoma surgery or with retina surgery.
• 02:17Some patients who have glaucoma and are on a lot of drops,
• 02:20they can actually lower their eye pressure
• 02:23at the same time as cataract surgery.