Is YAG Laser an option

My dad (age 66 years) had retinal detachment in both of his eyes back in 1984. His right eye was fixed by scleral buckle surgery and he lost vision in his left eye. He had a stoke in 2000 and soon after his vision started to deteriorate.

In 2009, he had a cataract operation in the eye with vision. Althogh he was very happy with the vision that was recovered after cataract, he developed foggy vision (due to secondary cataract) within a few months later. Now he has minimal vision in his eye and can just detect hand motion within a foot.

A retina expert suggested that he has severe retinal degeneration in his eye now. Laser Capsulotomy is an option but he is not sure how much vision will be returned due to his retinal degeneration. She also mentioned that she could not view the retina properly due to cloudiness of the capsule. Given the risk of retinal detachment with YAG Laser proceedure, she was not sure if the risk is worth the benefit. She mentioned that if there is a retinal detachment, she does not believe that my dad's eye could be fixed.

I am confused about whether or not sould we go for YAG laser Capsulotomy. On one had YAG Laser help capsulotomy could potentially improve my dad's vision and make him independent. On ther other hand if a retinal detachment occurs after the laser proceedue, he would lose the last bit of vision he has. Could someone please advise what are the options in this situation?

[Doreen Fazio, M.D.]

It is certainly possible for a retinal detachment to develop after YAG capsulotomy.  To determine the potential vision, a PAM (Potential Acuity Meter) test could be done to see if the vision might improve after the YAG laser.  If so, it may be worth the slight risk of retinal detachment after YAG capsulotomy in order to restore some better visual functioning, and to allow a better view of the retina.

[anmol1980]

Many thanks for your reply. I will certainly ask the doctor about doing PAM test in the next visit. I am also wondering if there is any other proceedure of removing capsule cloudiness apart from YAG laser which could be safer for my dad's retina.