LASER VISION CORRECTION CENTER
Doctors Suite
Randfontein Private Hospital
Ward street Extention, Randfontein
087 087 2653
064 724 0016
Latest Clinic News:
Diabetes in the Eye
Dr. Laila Raman-Abdulla discusses the impact of diabetes on eye health and the importance of regular check-ups for diabetics. She emphasises the need for early intervention and the management of risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol. Dr. Laila Raman-Abdulla also addresses the challenges of accessing affordable healthcare and provides insights on how to slow the progression of diabetes and reduce the risk of vision loss. The conversation highlights the importance of open discussions about health within families and the need for individuals to prioritise their own well-being. In this conversation, the hosts wrap up the show and express their gratitude to the listeners and the guest. They also thank the equipment provider for transforming their office into a studio. The conversation ends with the hosts signing off.
Photo 1: botched repair from another surgeon, poor apposition and scarring causing tenting of the lid.
​
Photo 2: scar revision with dermis fat graft, 1 week post op.
​
Photo 3: 3 months post op with a much better lid contour.
Good cosmesis can be achieved for adults with droopy lids using a levator resection. This muscle lifts the lid and with aging, may stretch and become ineffective in lifting the lid. A simple 30min procedure can provide instand and long lasting results.
About 1 billion people around the globe across all age groups are either near-sighted, far-sighted or have serious vision impairments like blindness.
Celebrated annually on the second Thursday in October, World Sight Day (WSD) is an international event that creates awareness about blindness and visual impairment. This year, the event took place on October 14.
To mark the day Dr Raman-Abdulla together with her colleague Dr Abebe, and their surgical team at Leratong Hospital, set about doing a cataract blitz, completing 10 surgeries for blind patients who were unable to have their surgeries performed during the 3rd wave.
Fixing droopy lids
The picture depicts our happy patient before and 2 months after his ptosis repair. His repaired lid now looks more natural and more importantly he can now see comfortably.
Frontalis slings are one surgical approach to the repair of a droopy eyelid or ptosis (TOE-sis). Ptosis occurs when the muscles that lift the eye are underdeveloped, diseased or stretched out. The vast majority of adults who develop ptosis develop it as part of the natural aging process. In these individuals, the muscle still works, but because it has stretched out with age, the lid is lower at rest and it takes more effort to keep the lid high enough to see out your eye. Surgery to fix this condition involves tightening or shortening this muscle in order to raise the lid's resting position.
In cases where the muscle is underdeveloped or (usually children born with it) or adults who develop degenerative nerve or muscle disease, not only is the lid lower, but the muscle is unable to lift the lid very much at all. People whose lid muscles are diseased in this way find that they can lift the lids somewhat by using their forehead muscle (the frontalis muscle) to lift the brows which in turn lifts the lid a little bit as well. These are the people for whom frontalis slings are a good surgical choice. A sling is a loop of material that is threaded beneath the skin between the eyebrow and the lid skin just above the lashes. When this loop is tightened, like a purse string, it makes it easier for the forehead muscle to lift the lid. The loop can be made of silicone, artificial strips, donor tendon, or even tendons obtained from the thigh of the patient him or herself!
Success of this procedure is defined by an improvement in the lid's resting position but this will depend entirely on the patient's ability and willingness to use the forehead or frontalis muscle. Without this effort, the lid will, in most cases, still look droopy. In most cases, patients who have slings performed will, at least initially, have trouble closing the lid and will have a limited spontaneous blink. It is important to keep the eye moist during this time with over the counter eye drops and moisturizing ointments. These lid movement limitations typically improve with time but when needed on only one eye, a certain amount of imbalance between the two upper lids is usually unavoidable after a sling procedure.
People who need frontalis slings have the most complicated and severe types of droopy lids. Children do quite well post operatively with this procedure and can maintain good cosmesis into adulthood. Dr Raman-Abdulla is able to perform this procedure, kindly contact our rooms for more information.
Eyecare in a Pandemic
Glaukos Stent Implant
iStent inject® W—one of the smallest medical devices known to be implanted in the human body—is made of two tiny stents that are designed to restore your eye’s natural ability to drain fluid out of the eye to reduce glaucoma pressure. Designed for cataract patients with glaucoma, iStent inject® W can be implanted independently or at the time of cataract surgery.
You won’t see or feel the stents after they are inserted, but they are designed to effectively manage your eye pressure.
Proven to be safe and effective in clinical trials, Glaukos devices have been implanted in the eyes of patients around the world, with more patients benefiting from this technology every day.
​
Drops are not your only option for the management of Glaucoma. Contact our practice today to find out if you are candidate for surgery.
Innovative Glaucoma Surgery at Randfontein Private Hospital
Crosslinking for Keratoconus
When children are diagnosed with keratoconus, they are more likely to have a severe form – the disease will usually progress more quickly and result in more serious effects on vision.
Children and adolescents should immediately be cross-linked as soon as the keratoconus is clearly diagnosed to significantly slow down disease progression and avoid corneal transplant. The results of cross-linking in children and adolescents as excellent as they are in adults: the disease can be stopped with a high rate of success. The procedure is safe and effective.
​
In children, with the use of an "Epi-on technique" the procedure is associated with less post-op pain, a faster recovery, and the ability to crosslink using only local anesthesia instead of the general anesthesia.
Dr Raman-Abdulla performing Cross-linking on an eight year old girl who has done very well post op