About Sudhalkar Eye Hospital and Retina Centre, Baroda in Mahajan Lane, Near Tower Crossroads, Raopura, Vadodara

The late Professor Emeritus Dr. Mukund Sudhalkar founded the hospital in the year 1950. The hospital has strived, since its inception, towards providing scientifically sound solutions for eye diseases with compassion and without compromise on quality.

The hospital has kept pace with the exponential advances in the field of ophthalmology(the science of eye disease and its management). It offers its patients a whole host of services in tune with international guidelines on the management of disorders of the eye.

Our sojourn through time has been a fascinating one. Cataract is the most well known and the first amongst eye diseases, and up until recently, was considered by many as the only eye disease with a satisfactory outcome. From the era of 'intra-capsular cataract surgery', a procedure that required minimal instrumentation and left the patient with thick glasses, ophthalmology has evolved into a highly sophisticated discipline that is heavily dependent on technology for comprehensive analysis and delivery of care. A wide variety of ophthalmic disorders (eye diseases) in all ocular sub-specialties can now be managed satisfactorily with good outcomes thanks to these advances.

We, at the Eye Hospital and Retina Centre, Baroda, are pleased to offer our vast experience in comprehensive eye care(gained over six decades of uninterrupted services)to our patients. We also take pride in offering our patients the same exacting standards of excellence in the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders as are considered appropriate and valid globally.

We now provide a short description of the various ocular conditions that we specialize in treating:

Retinal Disease:

The ocular retina can be affected by a wide variety of local and systemic conditions and diseases. Certain disorders of the retina such as familial exudative vitreo-retinopathy are congenital (present since birth) and are inherited (i.e. run in families). Other conditions, such as retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) are NOT present at birth, but develop shortly after birth, and, if not treated in time, can have devastating consequences.

Disorders of the retina can present acutely (such as bleeding inside the eye or retinal detachment) or can be insidious in onset(such as diabetic retinopathy or swelling of the blood vessels within the eye, a condition known as vasculitis)

The diagnosis and management of retinal disorders in general is often a drawn out process and requires, in many cases, multiple interventions. Vision can often be saved if these diseases are detected early. However, if treatment is delayed for any reason, many retinal conditions can result in irreversible blindness.

Cataract:

Cataract refers to the opacification of the natural crystalline lens of the eye responsible for bringing rays of light to a focus on the fovea, the most important part of the human retina.

Cataract formation is a part of the natural ageing process that every human being must go through. Certain conditions can result in early development of cataracts.
These include :

1.) Birth defects or pregnancy related illness
2.) Viral infections
3.) Systemic diseases present either at birth(such as galactosemia) or acquired later in life(such as diabetes mellitus)
4.) Use of steroids in any form
5.) Uveitis
6.) Injury to the eye by blunt or sharp objects
7.) Nutritional deficiency.

These are special situations and may warrant additional treatment. The surgical outcomes in these conditions are not as predictable as they are in age related cataracts

The only effective treatment today issurgical removal of the opacified natural crystallinelens and replacing it with a clear, biocompatible artificial intraocular lens. This is performed currently using the 'phacoemulsification procedure'. Regardless of whether 'laser technology' is used, phacoemulsification is the ultimate step in the surgical procedure used to remove cataracts.

The choice of intraocular lenses available today is vast. The latest type of lenses obviate the need for glasses(or at least bring it down to a minimum) and are known as multifocal lenses or multifocal-toriclenses(which incorporate a correction for cylindrical lenses as well). A variety of lenses(such as toric or trifocal lenses) are available to cater to everyone's individual requirements. The eye surgeon will advise you regarding the most suitable lens for your eye after performing certain tests.

A comprehensive eye check up is necessary prior to cataract surgery to make sure that there is no other co-existent disease that can account for the drop in vision or your complaints.

Squint or Strabismus:

Strabismus or Squint is a condition of misalignment of eyes, resulting in loss of binocular vision. The squinting eye usually is not in use when the "straight" eye is focusing. This leads to under development of vision in the squinting eye, a phenomenon called "Amblyopia" or "lazy Eye". The loss of function of one eye leads to the inability to focus an object with both eyes and failure of depth perception(the ability to to judge how far an object is relative to another from the person in question

Lazy Eye' can also be caused by a difference in the spectacle power between the two eyes(anisometropic amblyopia) and by damage to eye structure(sensory amblyopia) and/or


There are different types of squint :
1.) Squint associated with glasses(e.g. accommodative esotropia)
2.) Squint associated with other ocular disease and reduced visual potential of the squinting eye(sensory exotropia or esotropia)
3.) Squint associated with eye muscle disorders at birth(Moebius syndrome and so on)
4.) Squint caused by injury to eye
5.) Squint caused by stroke or other brain/nerve related problems(paralytic squint)


The aim of treatment is (the treatment plan varies from patient to patient)
1. To obtain best corrected vision in each eye with cycloplegic refraction
2. To improve the vision of Amblyopic eye by occluding the better eye.
3. To surgically align the squinting eyes by "Recession" &/or "Resection" of affected muscles. Surgery is not always needed, and in many cases, a change of spectacles leads to improvement of the condition.
4. To enhance Binocular Vision by exercises at home or on the Synoptophore.
Any or all of these treatment modalities may apply to a give patient

Strabismus or Squint is correctable surgically by weakening the stronger muscle by "Recession" and / or strengthening the weaker muscle by "Resection". In many cases, both steps need to be performed on both eyes.

Glaucoma:



Glaucoma refers to progressive damage of the optic nerve(the nerve that carries visual information to the brain) secondary to numerous causes, the most well known of which are raised intraocular pressure(IOP, the pressure inside the eye) and vascular(blood supply related) disturbances.

The essential feature of this condition is excavation of Optic Disc(the white portion of the disc) along with loss of the neuroretinal rim(the pink portion of the disc)

Glaucoma affects the peripheral vision first (our perception of things in and around our point of interest or fixation point when we look at something) and the central vision later. Hence, it might be very difficult to pick up glaucoma until the damage is advanced.

There are two major types of glaucoma :
Angle closure glaucoma: This is characterized by sudden pain, watering and decreased vision in the affected eye. This occurs when the passage for water being formed inside the eye(aqueous humor) is too narrow to allow egress(exit) of fluid.


Open angle glaucoma: This condition is often not detected by the patient until it is too late, as there are few, if any symptoms. Here, the passage for water, though open has some defects which allow incomplete egress of fluid.



A variety of tests are available for the diagnosis of glaucoma. These include: Visual Field analysis, Optical Coherence Tomography(OCT), corneal pachymetry and tonometry.

Treatment options include: medicines (in the form of eye drops, injections and tablets), laser therapy or surgery. The aim of glaucoma treatment is to reduce the intraocular pressure (IOP) to a level where further damage to the nerve fiber layers at the optic disc is minimized.

Changes in the optic disc are documented clinically by serial fundus photography.

Removal of Glasses:

'LASIK' or 'LASER SURGERY OF THE EYE' are the most common handles used to refer to any procedure that enables an individual to get rid of his or her glasses or at least reduce their dependence on optical correction devices.

These include both cornea and lens based procedures. The current technology for cornea based procedures uses the femto-second laser that helps enhance precision and avoid most complications of surgery.

A thorough preoperative work up is essential to maximize the results of surgery. Incomplete preoperative assessment can lead to post-operative problems like dry eyes, glare, halos and lifelong discomfort. If not performed properly, the procedure can lead to infection of the eyes and even retinal detachment, which is blinding