Macular Hole

DEFINITION: This hole develops in the center of the macula which enables the central vision. It has four phases. It mostly emerges by the detachment of the vitreus from the macula due to aging. It occurs in 3 cases out of 1000. Once one of the eyes is affected, the risk of development in the other eye within 5 years is 10%.Figure 1. Preoperative (left) and postoperative (right) Multicolor optical coherence tomography images of a patient operated for full thickness macular hole at our hospital.RISK FACTORS: It mostly affects individuals who have no eye diseases and who are over 50 years of age. It is more common in women. It may also develop due to high myopia, trauma, intraocular inflammation, retinal detachment and other eye diseases.FINDINGS: The disease starts with distorted and blurred vision in the center of vision. With the expansion of the hole over weeks and months, central vision is seriously affected.Figure 2. Preoperative (left) and postoperative (right) B scan optical coherence…
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Epiretinal Membrane

DEFINITION: In front of the macular area enabling central vision, a shiny and transparent membrane-like tissue develops over time. This is called the epiretinal membrane or epimacular membrane.Figure 1. Preoperative (left) and postoperative (middle) optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of a patient operated with the diagnosis of epiretinal membrane at our hospital. Macula OCT image of a healthy individual (right).RISK FACTORS: In most epiretinal membrane cases, there are no accompanying eye diseases; it may emerge with  advanced age (idiopathic epiretinal membrane). In some cases, it may develop after retinal detachment, retinal vessel diseases, eye trauma, intraocular inflammations, retinal laser treatment, and vitreoretinal surgery (secondary epiretinal membrane).FINDINGS: The most common finding is the decrease in visual sharpness. Other important findings are seeing objects differently to how they are, for instance faulted (metamorphopsia), bigger (macropsia), or smaller…
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Ptosis (Looseness Of The Eyelid)

DEFINITION: It is the looseness of the eyelid due to a malfunction of the muscle supporting the eyelid congenitally or later in life.Figure 1. Preoperative (left) and postoperative (right) external appearance of patient operated with the diagnosis of congenital ptosis at our hospital.CAUSES AND RISK FACTORS: The eyelid may move downward due to a developmental disorder of the eyelid muscle, palsy of the nerves here, detachment of the muscle because of aging or the mechanical effect of  masses in the eyelid.FINDINGS: Findings change according to the cause of the eyelid looseness. In congenital ptosis, both opening and closing the eyelid are dysfunctional, while in ptosis caused by aging, only opening the eyelid is dysfunctional. In both cases, the eye seems as if it is smaller.Figure 2. Preoperative (left) and postoperative (right) external appearance of patient operated with the diagnosis of  senile ptosis at our hospital.DIAGNOSIS: There is a standard measuring method to measure…
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Optic Coherence Tomography

Optic coherence tomography (OCT) is an imaging method, allowing the macula and optic nerve head in particular to be seen. It is ot an invasive method. OCT provides high-resolution information about the internal structure of the retina using the reflecting properties of tissues helped by close laser light beyond red. As the eye is composed of clear material from the front to the back as far as the macula, it is possible by this method to obtain information in the same way as taking a live biopsy slice. According to the degree of reflection of the retaina structure, slices are coloured differently and each cell layer of the retina can be seen separately.Figure 1. Optical coherence tomography appearance of cystoid macular oedema(upper) and full thickness macular hole (lower).Figure 2. Optical coherence tomography appearance of epiretinal membrane (upper) and choroidal neovascularization secondary to wet age-related macular degeneration (lower).Thus, we can obtain structural information about…
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Yellow Spot Disease (ARMD)

Age-related Macular DegenerationThis disease occurs in the macula (yellow spot) - the central viewing point of the eye.Figure 1. Demonstration of dry and wet types of senile macular degeneration.It is known as yellow spot disease colloquially. It has two types: wet and dry. The dry type is more common. This disease is characterized by the emergence of yellow-colored accumulations called drusen. It is slow in progress. Vision is slowly disrupted over the years. The wet type constitutes 10-15% of the patients and it may cause sudden and serious loss of vision. This disease is characterized by the formation of new vessels underneath the retina. If these vessels are not treated, they destroy the visual cells in the retina, thus causing an irreversible loss of vision.Figure 2. Preoperative (upper) and postoperative (lower) optical coherence tomogaphy images of a patient who received anti-VEGF injection for wet age-related macular degeneration.The basic risk factor is advanced age. It is more…
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