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LASIK risks, complications, and problems can be addressed at the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles
This patient had LASIK performed six months ago at a discount laser center and he did ok initially, but then noticed that his vision started to decline.
Looking at the photo, inside the blue oval, you’ll notice whitish clumps — these are areas of ‘epithelial ingrowth’ and the white arc above these clumps is the path of the blade used in traditional LASIK.
What happened here is the outer cells of the eye (the epithelium) have started to grow under the LASIK flap and they have induced a degree of astigmatism and defocus at that area. Can this be fixed?
Yes, this epithelial ingrowth can be fixed by a surgical procedure in which the flap is carefully lifted and these epithelial clumps can be safely removed, thereby restoring the normal contour and focusing ability.
Q: But what’s better than fixing a problem?
A: Preventing the problem in the first place.
The above eye had LASIK performed without using any blades (”Blade Free”). Notice how clean and clear it looks — no epithelial in-growth at all and the patient’s vision is superb (better than 20/20). The LASIK flap is made with the Intra-Lase, which is a cool laser that is incredibly accurate and allows “All Laser LASIK”. These laser flaps are far more resistant to epithelial ingrowth and other problems that are associated with the older style blade flaps.
When NASA Astronauts and the Navy Jet Fighter Pilots need vision correction, they receive all-laser LASIK with the Intra Lase, a machine that costs half a million dollars (compared to less than $100 for the blade used in the older-style of LASIK).
The all-laser LASIK technique using the Intra-Lase and the Custom Wave-Front guided treatment using the latest generation technology is our specialty at the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles.
For a Free LASIK book or to learn more about LASIK in Los Angeles, contact the Maloney Vision Institute at telephone 310-208-3937 or visit our website: http://www.MaloneyVision.com
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Los Angeles top MDs for Cataract Surgery, LASIK Surgery, and ICL Surgery host famous Japanese MDs
The Maloney Vision Institute (www.MaloneyVision.com) in Los Angeles is considered by many to be the top cataract surgery, LASIK surgery, and ICL surgery practice in California, and one of the best in the entire country. It’s no wonder why surgeons from around the world come to visit and learn from Dr Robert Maloney and Dr Uday Devgan.
On July 14 and 15, 2008, Japan’s most famous and best cataract surgeon came to Los Angeles to visit Uday Devgan MD, Chief of Cataract Surgery at the Maloney Vision Institute to learn about the new Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens Implant). Particularly in Los Angeles the best cataract surgery requires the best optics.
In the picture above, from left to right:
- Professor Kanjiro Masuda MD, Chief of Cataract Surgery, University of Toyko, Japan, http://www.m.u-tokyo.ac.jp/english/
- Uday Devgan MD, Chief of Cataract Surgery, Maloney Vision Institute, Los Angeles and Chief of Ophthalmology, UCLA Medical Center Olive View, Associate Clinical Professor, UCLA School of Medicine, 2-time Surgery Teacher of the Year at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, http://www.maloneyvision.com
- Dan Kozlow, Executive Vice President at Bausch & Lomb and director of Crystalens HD world-wide marketing, http://www.bauschsurgical.com/cataract/crystalens/default.aspx
- Jun Torihata MD, Chief of LASIK Surgery at the Shinagawa LASIK Center in Tokyo, http://www.shinagawa-lasik.com/english/index.html
- John Guckes, Executive Vice President at Bausch & Lomb and director of Eye Surgery Products world-wide, http://www.shinagawa-lasik.com/english/index.html
- Robert Maloney MD, Chief of LASIK Surgery, Maloney Vision Institute, Los Angeles and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology, UCLA School of Medicine and Founder and former Director of Refractive Surgery at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. http://www.maloneyvision.com
If you would like a free Cataract Book and free LASIK Book to learn more about LASIK Surgery, ICL Implantable Contact Lens Surgery, or Cataract Surgery in Los Angeles, please contact the Maloney Vision Institute via telephone at 310-208-3937 or visit www.MaloneyVision.com
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Not the best LASIK surgery candidate? The ICL Implantable Contact Lens in Los Angeles may be for you >>>
So, you’ve been to a reputable, high-end LASIK surgeon in Los Angeles and you’ve been told that you’re not the best LASIK surgery candidate. (Be warned of the LASIK-mills where the only tool is a hammer and everything looks like a nail!)
You can’t do LASIK, you’re intolerant of those irritating contact lenses, and you just hate your glasses. You want your eyes to be “normal” — you want to wake up and see the alarm clock. The Visian ICL Implantable Contact Lens Surgery (from the eye company Staar) may be the best option for you — it can correct large degrees of nearsightedness (myopia), from -3 D to -16 D and beyond.
The ICL procedure is fast (about 5 minutes per eye and both eyes can be done the same day), and painless, with most patients achieving very sharp vision the same day. The only way to know if you’re a great candidate for the ICL is to arrange for a detailed consultation.
Of all of the thousands of eye surgeons in California, there are only 14 who have been selected as “Leading Visian ICL Specialists” and in the city of Los Angeles, there are only two surgeons holding that honor. For ICL Implantable Contact Lens Surgery in Los Angeles, Dr Uday Devgan MD in private practice at the Maloney Vision Institute (and also Chief of Eye Surgery / Ophthalmology at a major UCLA Hospital) has been honored with the distinction of being a “Leading Visian ICL Specialist”.
See here for a complete list of Leading Visian ICL Specialists: http://www.visianinfo.com/html/find-visian-doctor.html
For more information about the Visian ICL Implantable Contact Lens Surgery in Los Angeles, contact the Maloney Vision Institute at http://www.MaloneyVision.com or via telephone at 310-208-3937.
STAAR® Surgical Company began feasibility studies for treating vision disorders with an implantable contact lens (ICL) in 1993. By 1997, the company received approval to supply its ICL vision correction device to European markets. In 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Visian ICL (Implantable Collamer Lens) for the reduction and treatment of nearsightedness (myopia).
What Is the Visian ICL?
The Visian ICL is a phakic intraocular lens (IOL) used during refractive surgery for correcting myopia. Unlike IOLs that are used during cataract surgery, the Visian ICL does not replace the eye’s natural lens. Instead, the ICL is placed between the iris and the natural lens. Because the phakic IOL does not replace the lens, but supplements it like a prescription contact lens, it is sometimes referred to as an implantable contact lens.
The Visian ICL gives another option for treating myopia with or without astigmatism* and hyperopia*. Now, patients who are seeking the latest approved procedures for vision correction or who want to avoid the permanence of laser vision correction have another choice for correction of nearsightedness with or without astigmatism* and farsightedness*.
What Makes the Visian ICL Different?
Although the Visian ICL is often informally defined as an ” implantable contact lens,” in the United States, the “ICL” in the Visian ICL stands for “implantable Collamer lens.” This designation acknowledges the unique material that comprises the lens.
Unique Lens Composition
Unlike other phakic IOLs the Visian ICL is made from Collamer, a unique, organic lens material, designed especially for the Visian lens. This proprietary lens material has greater biocompatibility than acrylic and silicone lenses 1. The Visian ICL is also foldable, requiring a smaller incision during the surgical procedure than other available lenses.
Safe, Proven Procedure
The safety and effectiveness of the Visian ICL implantation procedure has been proven with over 60,000 implants worldwide as well as recent U.S. FDA approval. Unlike corneal refractive surgery, the Visian ICL does not permanently alter the structure of the eye. Instead, the phakic IOL is placed in the eye’s posterior chamber, where it works with the natural lens to correct vision. Learn more about the Visian ICL vision correction procedure and how the ICL takes refractive surgery beyond the limits of LASIK.
Small Incision
Unlike other phakic IOLs, the Visian ICL is foldable. This feature allows physicians to implant the lens using a smaller incision. The small incision procedure is a technique that is familiar to eye surgeons. The Visian ICL requires a 2.8mm to 3.0mm incision as opposed to the 6.0mm incision required by other FDA-approved phakic IOLs. This smaller incision is seen as less invasive, does not require sutures, and is astigmatically neutral.
Removable, if Necessary
The Visian ICL is meant to stay in the eye indefinitely. However, if overcorrection or undercorrection occurs, a complication develops, or a patient’s vision changes, the Visian ICL can be removed or exchanged by a trained ophthalmic surgeon.
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Los Angeles Cataract Surgeon teaches Crystalens HD best surgery techniques in Amsterdam
The Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens Implant) is an accommodating lens — this means that it acts like a natural, normal human lens by giving the patient a wide-range of good vision without glasses. It is the only lens that is FDA-approved in this regard, and in Los Angeles I have been using it since its release in my private practice at the Maloney Vision Institute.
Due to my experience with the Crystalens, I was invited as a keynote speaker for the Dutch Refractive Meeting in Amsterdam, Holland in the Netherlands. I showed videos to the Dutch surgeons to explain my surgical technique and our outstanding results. The conference was held at the prestigious VU Medical Center in the heart of Amsterdam.
After the meeting, I was approached by the Dutch News Media for a cover story about the Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens Implant) and my surgery experience in Los Angeles. I even drew figures to explain the importance of using the best optics to give the best vision.
If you want the best vision, you must use the best optics!
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World Ophthalmology Congress 2008: Los Angeles Cataract Surgery in Hong Kong!
The World Ophthalmology Congress is a multi-national eye surgery meeting that happens every two years. The last one was in Sao Paolo, Brazil in 2006, where I spoke about doing cataract surgery Los Angeles style — meaning, using the highest quality optics and doing the safest surgery possible. For 2008, the venue was the amazing city of Hong Kong and the meeting drew 10,000 eye surgeons from nearly every country on the planet.
I was one of the dozen or so surgeons worldwide who was chosen to perform a live demonstration surgery on an actual patient. This is done to show the most modern techniques of surgery and the newest surgical technology to all of the ophthalmologists. The operating room is equipped with multiple video cameras, including one that is on the surgeon’s microscope so that the intricate details of the surgery can be observed by all. The surgeon (me) is wired with a microphone and a headset so that the audience members can speak directly with him during the surgery to ask about the technique. It’s not a place for an amateur!
My patient was a very sweet lady who had just one good eye. Her other eye suffered a retinal detachment years prior and didn’t see to well. Her ‘good’ eye now had a cataract and she was selected for the Live Surgery Event. She would receive free surgery from a leading surgeon in exchange for allowing her surgery to be broadcast live to thousands of other surgeons. Sounds like a great deal to me, since the surgeons who were selected for the Live Surgery program were among the very best world-wide.
The machine I used in her surgery was the Bausch & Lomb Stellaris, a phaco-emulsification machine that gently dissolves away the cataract using safe ultra-sound waves and removes it from the eye.
You can see more about this machine at:
http://www.bauschsurgical.com/cataract/default.aspx
On that website, click on the video links and you’ll see that the surgeon chosen to host the interviews is me, Uday Devgan MD of the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles and an Expert Cataract Surgeon.
For this patient, we wanted to deliver a wide range of clear vision without glasses, so the lens implant chosen was the new Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens) — the same lens used when we do top-tier cataract surgery in Los Angeles.
The surgery went beautifully and the patient did great — she recovered a wide range of sharp vision without glasses. This is a picture of her eye the day after the surgery. You can see that it looks completely normal.
I have done Live Surgery events in many other countries, but this one was special — very special. Why? The patient and the wonderful smile she had right after surgery. That says it all.
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Of the thousands of eye doctors in the USA, Bausch & Lomb has chosen only three top ranked doctors to be featured on their Crystalens.com website to be the key opinion leaders and teachers for the other surgeons in the US. You can go to http://www.crystalens.com and click on ‘For Professionals’ to see that Uday Devgan MD of the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles was chosen.
Click here to see these three top-ranked eye doctors selected by Bausch & Lomb:http://www.crystalens.com/newsite/pro/
If you would like more information, including a FREE CATARACT BOOK, please call the Maloney Vision Institute at 310-208-3937 or on the web at http://www.MaloneyVision.com
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Cataract Surgery in patients with prior RK in Los Angeles
Another challenging situation is cataract surgery in patients who have undergone prior radial keratotomy, known as RK. This makes the surgery more technically difficult — these are not cases for the beginning surgeon!
This is a patient from the east coast who decided to fly to Los Angeles to the Maloney Vision Institute for his cataract surgery.
This patient had prior RK as well as prior LASIK — making the surgery even more of a challenge. For the other eye surgeons who read this blog, the specific secrets to achieving success in this surgery can be found here:
http://www.crstoday.com/PDF%20Articles/0308/CRST0308_10.pdf
In this Cover Story feature in the medical journal Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today, I explain the challenges of the surgery and how to achieve success.
The patient did great and achieved sharp vision without glasses. This is a view of the patient’s eye the day after the surgery:
The patient was thrilled with his new vision. The trip to Los Angeles for Cataract Surgery was certainly worthwhile.
You can read another article by Uday Devgan MD about doing Cataract Surgery in patients with prior RK by clicking on this link:
http://www.osnsupersite.com/view.asp?rID=21157
If you’ve had prior RK or prior LASIK and you’re seeking advice regarding cataract surgery in Los Angeles, click here:
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Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens Implant) for Cataract Surgery in Los Angeles
Bausch & Lomb, the multi-billion dollar eye-care and optics company, just received approval of the Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens Implant) for patients undergoing cataract surgery. What makes it so special?
The Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens HD Implant) is designed to function like a natural human lens, providing clear vision without glasses over a wide range — from far activities like reading street signs, to near activities like reading a book.
The lens has the highest quality optics and provides an HD High Definition level of vision. The good news is that for patients with cataracts, insurance companies and Medicare will usually cover the cost of the surgery, with the patient paying for the upgrade to the better quality optics.
So, if you’re Bausch & Lomb and you need to showcase the newest technology Crystalens and teach eye surgeons how to use the lens, then who do you select? Bausch & Lomb chose Uday Devgan MD of the Maloney Vision Institute in Los Angeles on their official website.
You can go to: www.Crystalens.com and then click on the “For Professionals” side to see, or just click on the link below:
http://crystalens.com/newsite/pro/
For more information about the Crystalens HD in Los Angeles (Crystal Lens HD) and information about Cataract Surgery in Los Angeles, please contact the Maloney Vision Institute at http://www.MaloneyVision.com or call us at 310-208-3937.
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Cataract Surgery in Extreme Nearsightedness (Myopia) in Los Angeles
One of my specialties is cataract surgery in challenging situations and patients from across the US are often referred to our practice for this reason. One of the most challenging is performing cataract surgery in people who have an extreme degree of myopia (nearsightedness). Without glasses, these patients can only see inches in front of their face (often less than 1 inch!) and when they develop a cataract their vision declines further. But their cataract surgery is far from routine — it must be done with special techniques in order to avoid severe problems which could lead to loss of vision.
Mike is a 50 year old computer programmer from Ohio who was born prematurely with retina problems which caused him to completely lose vision in one eye as a baby. He has lived with just one eye for his whole life, and that eye is severely myopic (extreme myopia). He developed a cataract over the past few years and his vision declined further — even his thick coke-bottle glasses could not improve the vision enough and he began to have difficulty with his computer work. Mike really did his research (much more than simply a google search on the internet) and he decided that for cataract surgery on his only eye he was going to fly to Los Angeles to the Maloney Vision Institute.
This is one of the articles that led Mike to Uday Devgan MD, Cataract Surgeon in Los Angeles:
The article was published in the journal Ophthalmology Management, which teaches other eye surgeons how to manage difficult surgeries. You can read the full article here:
http://www.ophmanagement.com/article.aspx?article=100823
While the article is full of technical medical terms, I think that you’ll understand a great deal of it.
Mike did great — the cataract was safely removed and he recovered sharp vision without glasses. He’s now able to see his computer screen clearly and without glasses, for the first time in his life. For the important things in life, like Cataract Surgery, making an extra effort to fly to Los Angeles is worth it. Just ask Mike.
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the new crystalens hd crystal lens for cataract surgery in los angeles
I’m happy to announce that we will be the first practice to get the new Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens) accommodating lens implant for cataract surgery in the Los Angeles area, with a full inventory at our surgery center.
What is the Crystalens HD? It’s the newest generation of FDA-approved accommodating lens implants that are used in cataract surgery. This lens allows the widest range of sharp, high-definition vision, without glasses and it can restore more youthful vision to any aged patient who is undergoing cataract surgery.
You can read more about the lens at the official Crystalens website:
at this website, click on the “For Professionals” icon to access the “doctor’s only” part of the website — and you’ll notice a familiar face — yes, I’m one of the few top surgeons nationwide, selected by Bausch & Lomb, the maker of the Crystalens, to showcase their latest products and teach other surgeons the art of using them.
If you want more information about Crystalens HD (Crystal Lens) Cataract Surgery in Los Angeles, please see our website: http://www.MaloneyVision.com
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The Implantable Contact Lens (Visian ICL Surgery) in Los Angeles
But what if I’m not a candidate for LASIK? Well, there may be other options available to you, such as the Visian ICL. The ICL is the Implantable Contact Lens, which is a permanent, ultra-thin lens that is surgically placed inside the eye, behind the iris (the blue, green, or brown part of the eye). It requires no maintenance or cleaning and you will not feel it or even know that it’s there.
In Los Angeles, California, at the Maloney Vision Institute, the ICL Surgery is presented as an option to appropriate candidates, along with the other surgical options available. The ICL also has the advantage of being removable from the eye, so that even many years down the road, should better technologies become available, it would be relatively easy to upgrade.
I have also developed the “No-Touch” Technique of ICL placement, where I can place the lens in perfect position without having to touch or manipulate it. Watch my video (see link below) and compare to other videos that you find on the internet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx0C1wKF7E4
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7644991633967452967&ei=pyJfSMTBBYT0rQONy6WHDg&hl=en
http://video.yahoo.com/mypage/video?s=4456185
http://www.maloneyvision.com/devgan/visian-icl.htm
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With Challenging Cataracts, Never Give Up. Cataract Surgery in Los Angeles…
Question: When do you give up on someone’s vision? Answer: You don’t.
Today I did cataract surgery on a very interesting patient. She was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a genetic disease which causes the retina inside the eye (akin to the ‘film of the camera’) to degenerate. These patients progressively start to lose vision and eventually end up legally blind. These patients also develop other ocular problems such as cataracts.
Our patient was refused cataract surgery by multiple other eye surgeons due to the technical difficulty of the surgery and the limited potential vision due to the RP. She had lost all hope and her cataract had become severe — it was nearly impossible for me to even see inside her eye due to the blockage from the cataract. This delay in her treatment had made a difficult surgery even more challenging.
Using a multi-step approach as well as specially ordered technologies, her surgery was a success. While my routine cataract surgery lasts just 5 minutes, her surgery took nearly 20 minutes — nearly 4 times as long. For the medical readers, she had loose zonules and a dense cataract and required a capsular tension ring as well as a zero spherical aberration intra-ocular lens implant (IOL), phaco chop with phaco power modulations was used to break up the cataract and remove it.
Within the first few minutes after the surgery, she smiled and said that she could already tell that her vision was improved. There’s no way of reversing her RP, but the cataract was completely cured and as a result, she recovered a lot more vision than she had prior to surgery. She’s not able to drive, but she can now do most of her daily activities by herself. This one little surgery has given her a new sense of freedom and independence and has illuminated her world. I was fortunate to be a part of this.
Never give up — there’s always something than can be done. More info at www.maloneyvision.com
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If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail…
The famous American psychologist Abraham Maslow once stated that “If the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything starts to look like a nail.” Clearly, it’s better to have a full set of tools in the toolbox so that the best one is used for each individual job.
This rings true in vision surgery, where the best procedure to correct vision should be custom tailored to each individual patient. While LASIK is commonly used to treat many different patients, conditions, and prescriptions, it is just one end of the spectrum. There are other options such as Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE), Implantable Contact Lenses (ICLs), and even Cataract Surgery, that may be better options for some patients. The full spectrum of vision surgery options should be evaluated for each patient and then the best procedure can be selected.
Of particular interest is the Implantable Contact Lens (ICL) which can be painlessly implanted inside the eye, behind the iris (the blue, green, or brown part of the eye responsible for eye color) in less than 5 minutes. The ICL has the advantage of being able to treat very large degrees of myopia (nearsightedness), far more than is safely possible with LASIK. The ICL is also removable and reversible and is safe in people who have thin corneas. The ICL is currently available in powers from -3 to -16 and a wider range is planned for the near
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Welcome to the LASIK, Cataract, & ICL Surgery Los Angeles Blog
This is a blog regarding the full spectrum of vision correction surgeries, including LASIK Surgery, Cataract Surgery, and ICL Implantable Contact Lens Surgery in Los Angeles.
My name is Uday Devgan and I’m your host. In case you’re wondering about the ethnic name, my parents are from India and ‘Uday’ means ’sunrise’ — can you guess what time I was born? (bonus points if you said 6 AM, instead of simply ’sunrise’)
I’m a Los Angeles local, from elementary school through medical school (USC), including all of my medical and surgical training and residency (UCLA), and I’m an Associate Clinical Professor at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA. I enjoy teaching other eye surgeons as Chief of Ophthalmology at Olive View UCLA Medical Center, part of the UCLA School of Medicine, and I’m the only one to have won the UCLA Eye Surgery Teaching Award Twice (in 2002 and 2007).
see here for my UCLA Medical School Faculty appointment:
http://www.jsei.org/Education/Educ_TeachingFaculty.asp?DisplayEmployee.asp?EmployeeID=17218
However, I don’t see patients at UCLA — I just teach there 1 day per week. Why? I’ve found that there is too much bureaucracy and inefficiency and the patient experience is sub-optimal. For this reason, I spend 4 days a week in private practice at the Maloney Vision Institute, considered to be the premier vision surgery institute in Southern California. The quality of the surgery and the patient experience is superb, and it’s the reason why more than 100 other eye doctors have had their own surgery and their family’s surgery at the Maloney Vision Institute.
Robert Maloney MD founded the Maloney Vision Institute more than 10 years ago. Prior to that Dr Maloney was Chief of Refractive (Vision) Surgery at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA and in fact, was the one who founded the department. You can read more about our institute via the link below:
