Retnial Scar tissue

[Tim03]

When my father was born in 44' he had toxosplasmosis(sp?) which caused damage to his eyes.  The damage caused scar tissue on his retnia which he was told there was no way to remove.  I was just reading another post about the removal of this type of scar tissue and that it is possible to regain some vision after having it done.  My question is after having this scar tissue for his whole life, if he were to have it removed now, would it be likely for him to regain some of his lost vision (blind spots in the center of his eyes.) ?  And if so what is a likely percentage he could regain?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

It is not possible to restore the vision of a toxoplasmosis scar on the retina.  You may be thinking or reading about "membrane stripping" which is a highly skilled surgery to remove membranes that form over the macula. They would not help your father since the toxo makes damage all the way through the retina and the choroid under it.

His best option is to protect and preserve what vision he has by seeing an Eye MD yearly.

JCH III MD

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The gel in your eye (what's left of it) will not work. That's why silicone oil is usined. use the search feature, archives and health topics to look up the many discussions of silicone oil.

JHCH III MD

[09031938]

I have been told that I have a hole in the retina of my left eye( that goes complete through the retina) and cannot have the recommended surgery with the gas bubble since i cannot sit or lay in a downward position due to a severe herniated disc in my neck however Dr say they can do it with a silicone. Will this be as successful as using the gel from my own eye .

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I do not think that there is any specific research done on toxo scars. However the whole subject of dealing with diseases that leave scars on the eye retina/macula is under great study using animal models

JCH III MD

[Tim03]

Thank you for your imput.  I guess I was just hopeing there was some way to get his vision restored.  Do you know if there are any studies being done on correcting this type of scaring?  Again Thank you for the help

Tim