Northside Hospital Offers New Intraocular Lens that Provides
Freedom from Glasses for Cataract Patients
November 7, 2006
Cataract surgery has undergone tremendous technological advances in recent years. For most of the 20 million adults in the United States with cataracts, whether they have undergone cataract correct surgery or not, they also will need glasses to read. But today, the AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL, with its revolutionary lens technology, patients may now see clearly at all distances, without the additional use of reading glasses or bifocals. And now the AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL is available at Northside Hospital!
The AcrySof® ReSTOR® IOL is an intraocular lens (IOL) that can provide patients a full range of vision – near, intermediate and distance – greatly minimizing their dependence on glasses. The IOL is a revolutionary lens used in cataract surgery for patients with and without presbyopia.
"This new lens potentially allows patients to get rid of their glasses altogether," said Dr. Andrew Shatz, an ophthalmologist on staff at Northside Hospital who performs more lens implants than any other physician in Atlanta. "The lens is a breakthrough in cataract surgery and we are proud to offer it to our patients."
A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye. This lens, located behind the iris (or colored part of the eye) works just like the lens of a camera – focusing light images on the retina, which sends the images to the brain. Clouding keeps light and images from reaching the retina, making sharp images appear blurry, bright colors dull and night vision difficult. Eye injury, certain diseases or even some medications can cause clouding. But, in more than 90 percent of cases, clouding is caused by the aging process. A cataract is not a “film” over the eye, and neither diet nor lasers will make it go away. The best way to treat a cataract is to remove the old, clouded lens and provide a replacement.
Until recently, most patients had their vision improved with a monofocal IOL, which allows patients to see only one distance, typically requiring them to use glasses following surgery either for distance or near, and sometimes both.
“The monofocal lens works well, but it does nothing for the patient’s reading vision,” says Dr. Shatz. “The ReSTOR IOL provides a full range of vision, decreasing or eliminating all together the patient’s dependence on reading glasses or bifocals.”
Cataract surgery is performed on an outpatient basis and usually takes just a few hours from arrival to departure. Northside Hospital-Atlanta performs approximately 1,400 cataract surgeries each year and is ranked #1 in 2006/07 by Atlanta consumers in Outpatient/Same Day Surgery and Most Personalized Care. During the procedure, the patient’s eye is treated with anesthetic so they feel little, if any, discomfort. First, a tiny incision will be made in the eye allowing the surgeon to use a small instrument (about the size of a pen tip) to break up or wash away the cloudy cataract. Once the cataract is removed, the IOL is inserted through the same tiny incision and set into its permanent position. After the procedure, the patient rests for a short while before going home.
Northside Hospital is a leader in providing state-of-the-art surgical services. Surgeons on staff at Northside perform more than 35,000 surgical cases, annually for outpatients and inpatients in multiple, specialized operating room suites. New advances in surgical technology allow us to stay at the forefront of the medical field and devote more time to providing the best patient care possible.
