Dr. William D. Bonatti spent his medical career practicing
ophthalmology in his hometown of New Kensington, PA. Upon retirement, he and
his wife, Marilyn, moved to Florida, which, he notes, meant finding a good
ophthalmology practice.
“I knew that at some point Marilyn would need cataract
surgery, and I not only had cataracts but also have a history of glaucoma; I
was borderline glaucomic myself,” he confides. “Interestingly, a number of
years ago I had a couple of profession-related conversations with Dr. Mallon
which I never forgot.”
William J. Mallon, MD, is a board-certified
ophthalmologist and fellowship-trained ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive
surgeon at the Center for Advanced Eye Care in Vero Beach.
“My first instinct was to schedule an appointment with
Center for Advanced Eye Care,” remembers Dr. Bonatti. “After hearing excellent
feedback about them from some of their other patients, I went with my
intuition.
“We found Dr. Mallon to be ever-so-nice; Marilyn and I
liked him very much. And with one glance around the office, I knew he had a
superb set-up and was doing things the right way.”
Dr. Bonatti also notes that he was very impressed with Dr.
Mallon’s staff: “They are outstanding.
“One thing I couldn’t help but notice is that they are
trained to perform double readings, which provides reliable, valuable
statistics for the practice. When I asked Dr. Mallon about that, he explained
that they maintain all those stats and compare them with respect to the
calculation of intraocular lens [IOL] power from patient to patient, resulting
in close to perfect lens power for each individual.”
No needle, no
patches
Dr. Bonatti says he felt very confident with Dr. Mallon
and scheduled his cataract surgery with him.
“Historically, many ophthalmologists used general
anesthesia for cataract surgery,” educates Dr. Bonatti. “It made complications
much higher. Then, as anesthesia improved, it could be injected around the eye.
But today, with drop anesthesia, there is far less intrusion into the ocular
tissues and, as a result, the post-operative inflammatory responses are far
less, so the eye will heal much more quickly.
“I was relieved to learn that the ophthalmologists at
Center for Advanced Eye Care use this approach.”
For most patients, the removal of a cataract can now be
accomplished with a procedure that does not require an injection around the eye
(or in the arm), stitches, or an eye patch afterwards, elaborates Diana Burton,
MD, a board-certified ophthalmologist and Fellow of the American College of
Surgeons and the American Academy of Ophthalmology: "In this practice, 'no
needle' means no needle
anywhere
. We
numb the eye with anesthetic drops, and then, during the procedure, we use what
we call
verbal anesthesia
, meaning
that we communicate quietly with our patients until everything has been
completed. We stay in touch with how they are feeling, provide reassurance when
needed, and let them know what to expect. This interaction keeps patients
relaxed throughout the entire cataract removal and lens implantation.”
“I was completely comfortable during surgery,” remembers
Dr. Bonatti. “Dr. Mallon is easy to talk to, even during the surgery, and we
discussed everything he was doing as he did it.”
And Dr. Bonatti was not the only person impressed with the
work at Center for Advanced Eye Care.
“Marilyn is a registered nurse and an ophthalmic
technician herself,” informs Dr. Bonatti. “She was there when I came out of the
operating room, and she assured me my eye was perfectly white and there was no
inflammation.
“I could see right away. Dr. Mallon did not put a dressing,
or patch, on my eye so I had no loss of binocularity [vision in which both eyes
are used together]. It makes things infinitely easier.”
Choosing the best IOL
Leading-edge surgical techniques and sophisticated
technological breakthroughs help make cataract surgery a safe and effective
treatment, even as an elective procedure for younger patients. However, because
of the wide scope of alternatives now available in replacement lenses, they
also present patients with complex options and choices to make.
“There is no one
right
solution for everyone with cataracts,” observes Dr. Burton. “We offer patients
everything from standard monofocal intraocular lenses to the latest multifocal
lenses to lenses that replicate the focusing action of the eye’s natural lens.
“The best solution for one patient is not necessarily the
ideal choice for someone else; the key is patient selection and individualizing
treatment for each patient. It is our job to help our patients understand their
options.”
Patients can have both eyes corrected for distance vision,
in which case they will require glasses for near vision, or they may choose to
have their eyes corrected for close-up vision, in which case they will require
glasses for distance. Some patients may also choose monovision, a technique
where the dominant eye is focused for distance vision and the nondominant eye
is focused for near-to-intermediate vision. Monovision can help patients be as
independent from glasses as possible.
But that is only the beginning.
“Several types of lens implants are available today,”
educates Dr. Burton. “There are multifocal lenses such as the
ReSTOR
and
ReZoom
lenses, which provide more than one focal distance. These
lenses are similar to a bifocal.
“Then there is the
Crystalens
accommodating intraocular lens (IOL), which is a hinged implant designed to
allow the optic, or the part of the lens that you see through, to move back and
forth as you constantly change focus on images around you. It uses the natural
focusing ability of the eye and provides a single focal point throughout a
continuous range of vision from far to near. The lens is actually designed to
move inside the eye, so it simulates more of a natural type of vision. The
quality of the distance, intermediate, and near vision will depend somewhat on
the individual patient.”
Dr. Bonatti chose the Crystalens for each of his eyes.
“For the most part, I’m not wearing any glasses at all,”
marvels the doctor, “which is super-duper considering that I’ve worn glasses
all my life. Before I had cataract surgery, I wore glasses for distance vision
and a full tri-focal for up-close.
“Even better, Dr. Mallon says that, for many patients,
near vision with Crystalens improves for up to a couple of years. It seems to
me that my near vision is improving all the time.”
One more advantage
“I was borderline glaucomic,” reminds Dr. Bonatti, “but
when cataract surgery is done and everything heals, pressures usually tend to
drop, which is what happened to me. Following surgery, Dr. Mallon just let my
pressures moderate on their own, and they really dropped significantly. I was
just ever so tickled with that.
“I’m doing just beautifully and I’m very happy that I
chose the Center for Advanced Eye Care as my ophthalmology practice.”