Cirugía y enfermedades vítreo-retinales

The Vitreoretinal Diseases and Surgery Clinic at Mayo Clinic provides expert care for people with a wide range of conditions that affect the parts that make up the center and back of the eye:

• Retina, which is a thin layer of tissue on the inside back wall of the eye.
• Macula, which is the center of the retina.
• Vitreous, which is a clear, gel-like substance in the center of the eye.

Our retina specialists deliver comprehensive evaluations and cutting-edge treatments, serving both adults and children with compassion and precision.

Because each person, each eye and each condition are unique, our vitreoretinal surgeons use a wide range of state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques and treatment options to maintain and restore as much of the person's vision as possible.

Precision evaluation

Our team works with you to produce a timely diagnosis and uses advanced diagnostic imaging to develop a precise evaluation of your condition. Depending on your needs, your imaging options may include:

• Optical coherence tomography (OCT), which captures precise images of the retinal tissue layers. The test can help diagnose specific conditions and monitor how the retina is responding to treatment.
• OCT angiography, which displays retinal blood vessels without the need for injection of dye into a vein. The test identifies lack of blood flow or growth of irregular blood vessels.
• Wide-field retinal imaging, which provides a complete view of the retina.
• Fluorescein angiography, which uses a dye that causes blood vessels in the retina to stand out under a special light. The procedure helps to exactly identify specific conditions.
• Electrophysiological testing, which measures how the retina's electrical activity responds to light.
• Intraoperative OCT, which enables surgeons to measure the effectiveness of the retina surgery while it's happening.
• 3D surgical visualization systems, which allow surgeons to view the entire eye from all angles, so they can plan the most effective surgical strategies before they enter the operating room.
• Indocyanine green angiography, which uses a contrast dye injected into the eye. The dye lights up when exposed to infrared light. The resulting images show retinal blood vessels and the deeper, hard-to-see blood vessels behind the retina in a tissue called the choroid.

Advanced treatments

Your evaluation will guide a treatment plan tailored to your exact condition. Depending on your needs, you may receive medical treatments, surgical treatments or a combination of different treatments.

• Intravitreal injections deliver healing compounds into the vitreous. Injections may contain anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents, which treat irregular blood vessel growth and fluid leakage in the retina, corticosteroids, which help reduce inflammation, or other emerging therapies.
• Laser photocoagulation uses a high-energy laser beam to cause a controlled burn of the retina. The procedure can be used to make sure that a small tear does not progress to a retinal detachment. Laser treatment also can stop worsening of diabetic retinopathy.
• Photodynamic therapy uses a medicine, called verteporfin, that's injected into a vein in the arm. The medicine then travels to blood vessels in the eye. An eye doctor shines a focused light from a special laser on the affected blood vessels in the eye. This activates the verteporfin, causing the blood vessels to close.
• Complex vitreoretinal surgery uses microincisions to remove some of the gel from the vitreous.
• Scleral buckling sews a piece of silicone to the white part of the eye, called the sclera. This surgery is used to repair retinal detachments. The silicone piece indents the wall of the eye and relieves some of the force caused by the vitreous tugging on the retina.
• Pneumatic retinopexy injects a bubble of air or gas injected into the center part of the vitreous. When positioned properly, the bubble pushes the area of the retina that contains the hole or holes against the wall of the eye to stop the flow of fluid into the space behind the retina.
• Secondary intraocular lens surgery may be necessary if a patient develops problems after cataract surgery. The surgeon removes the old lens implant and, in most cases, replaces it with a new artificial lens.
• Scleral fixation techniques use the white part of the eye, called the sclera, to implant an intraocular lens when other parts of the eye won't support the attachment.
• Retinal gene therapy fixes faulty genes or replaces them with healthy genes to try to cure disease. Options may include Food and Drug Administration-approved Luxturna and others through clinical trials.
• Specialized pediatric retina care, including laser and surgery.

Expertise and services

The team of vitreoretinal specialists has deep experience diagnosing and treating a full spectrum of vitreoretinal diseases. They include, but are not limited to:

• Age-related macular degeneration.
• Diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema.
• Retinal detachment and retinal tears.
• Macular holes and epiretinal membranes.
• Retinal vein and artery occlusion.
• Inherited retinal degeneration.
• Central serous chorioretinopathy.
• Uveitis and retinal inflammatory diseases including autoimmune retinopathy.
• Ocular tumors involving the retina or choroid.
• Pediatric retinal diseases, including:
• Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
• Coats disease.
• Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR).
• Congenital retinal dystrophies and structural anomalies.
• Pediatric retinal detachments.

Why choose Mayo Clinic

Patients and families choose Mayo Clinic for our team-based, patient-centered approach. Our retina specialists collaborate with experts across pediatric ophthalmology, oncology, neurology, endocrinology and genetics to deliver coordinated, whole-person care.

Mayo Clinic is also a leader in retina research and innovation. Our faculty actively participates in national and international clinical trials aimed at advancing the treatment of retinal diseases in both adults and children.