retinal tears

[corks100]

1) Just wanted to know if you developed a small tear after PPV, does this mean you have scar tissue or PVR as well?  I still have blood left on the operated eye due to a small tear that developed during recovery (after 2 mon 2 weeks) and the doc said it is new blood after the small teard dveloped.

It is taking a while for the blood to subside...so I was just getting worried.

2) When the doc lasers a tear, is he also lasering the retina into the back of the eyeball as well?  I am just afraid that itll mess up the retina if it is lasered back into the eyeball as well.  If a re-detachment happens, then it could mess up the retina and more retinal tears could happen right because there is one part of the retina that is already lasered into the bask of the eyeball? Is this a correct assumption or is the laser only done to seal the retina and not sealed into the back of the eye as well?

3) i heard that some patients put off lasering their retinal tears.  why would they so this or put this off?  Is is for the same reason as my questions #2 aboe?

4) do some people usu have lots of tears after RD surgery?  how can tears be prevented from happening again?  I just want my eye to settle downnow so I can get better and move on.


Thanks for your response in advance.  

[pdowning]

Did your white light crocked lines ever resolve?  

[corks100]

Hi Dr. Brown.  Thanks so much for your response.  I appreciate it so much.

I dont have a lot of retinal tears.  It was just that one my Doctor saw after my regular check ups after my PPV 2mons and 2 weeks ago).  After he saw it, he just told me to come back the following week to laser it.  I just did the laser with him yesterday and It wasnt bad at all actually.  He gave me drops to use until it runs out.

I have a few more questions also:

1) I still have a small light gray spot/light brown spot in my vision which is still causing me double vision (2 weeks now).  My Doctor said it is new blood from the tear...when will this go away?  I was just nervous about this possibly being PPV/scarring.  But I can see color and can read around it (no crooked lines around it).  Just nervous it might take another 3 months for this spot to go away.

2) I also see 2 white light crocked lines (not light flashes) in my vision when I cover my good eye and look into my operated eye (right).  I see one that I THINK my doctor lasered yesterday....but i sitll saw the white crooked line/light last night and this morning.  Could white lights/lines be an indication/symptoms of retinal tears?  I see one on the upper right side of my eye ball (not sure though if it is the same one my Doctor lasered yesterday. I asked him but he didnt asnwer.) and another small one on the upper right hand corner of my operated eye (this one I was afraid of and my doc said I am fine.  I pointed it out to his staff which I hope he read and saw.  I even mentioned it to him right after he was done with lasering my tear yesterday and all he said is that I am ok).  I even told his nurse to point it out to the Doc but she said she cant do that but not to worry bec he checks all around the eyes).  I was worried though bec I've come along way in the recovery process and if it were a tear, I really wanted him to check it (but maybe bec it was small he wasnt able to see it even under the microscope).  I dont want to make it worse if it is esp if it might actually be a tear.

3) do Docs really look all around the eye before and when they laser to see if they got everything or the possible tears?  Im a little worried about the 2 white lights/crooked lines I see when i close my operated eye.

This is the thing about my Doctor.  I think he is good.  He would be a perfect Doc if he were to spend a little more time answering some questions and being a little more patient (this RD thing is such a big deal...its been the scariest and most frightening thind to might loose an eye or two!).  He is always in a hurry.  His style is that he will check you up, tell you his dignosis, maybe answer a question.  BUt everything and all other questions, he answers by calling his patients back via telephone.  He is usu good at calling his patients back and is nice when he calls and tries to answer a lot.  BUt sometimes you just need to point things out to him while still in his clinic with him.  I dont want to annoy him by asking some questions while he is there with me,but he runs out so fast, i dont get a chance to really ask.  He has a reputation of being a really good specialist, but this is his flaw.

any other thoughts and advice?  

Thanks so much in advance for your answers.  Hope to hear from you soon.    

[Sandra M Brown, MD]

Well, the #1 piece of information we are missing is why you are having so many retinal tears.  But to go on to your questions, when you laser a tear what you are really doing is welding the retina around the tear onto the underlying sclera, which is the white wall of the eye.  You are creating a scar tissue barrier that prevents the tear from extending or turning into a full blown retinal detachment.  If you have tears that tend to lead to detachments, you need them lasered, period.

Some patients who have small inferior retinal tears (at the bottom of the eye) and no other risk factors for detachment do not need to have those tears lasered urgently but need close watching.  People with retinal holes (not the same thing) often don't need laser at all.