Retinal Diseases

What are retinal diseases?

Retinal diseases are those that affect your retina, or the back layer of your eye. Light goes into your eye through your cornea and through the opening at the center of your iris called the pupil. Your lens focuses the light onto your retina.

Your retina is the part of your eye that’s responsible for converting light into electrical signals. Then, your optic nerve sends these signals to your brain, which turns the signals into images.

A retinal disease can affect any part of your retina, including your macula, the center part of your retina that lets you see details. You can inherit some of these conditions.

Many retinal diseases cause symptoms that affect your vision. It’s important to find and treat diseases of the retina. Many of them can cause blindness or low vision if they aren’t treated.

Types of retinal diseases

There are several diseases of the retina. Some of them include:

• Diabetes-related retinopathy.
• Retinal detachment.
• Retinal tears or holes.
• Retinal vein occlusion, including central retinal vein occlusion and branch retinal vein occlusion.
• Infectious retinitis.
• Central serous retinopathy.
• Birdshot chorioretinopathy and other inflammatory diseases.

There are diseases that affect your macula, such as:

• Macular pucker, also called an epiretinal membrane.
• Macular hole.
• Age-related macular degeneration.
• Macular edema (swelling due to fluid buildup).

You can inherit other retinal diseases, like:

• Retinitis pigmentosa.
• Usher syndrome, an inherited condition that causes retinitis pigmentosa.
• Stargardt disease.
• Retinoschisis, which can be something that you’re born with or something that develops over time.

How common are retinal diseases?

There are about 11.8 million people in the U.S. with eye diseases, including glaucoma, diabetes-related retinopathy and photoreceptor degeneration, which refers to a loss of rods and cones.

What are the symptoms of retinal diseases?

Symptoms of retinal diseases include:

• Eye floaters and flashes.
• Blurred or altered vision.
• Blind spots in your central or peripheral vision (vision to the sides of your central vision).
• Distortions in your vision (for example, straight lines appear crooked).
• Sudden loss of vision.
• Difficulty seeing at night or adjusting when the light changes.

What causes retinal diseases?

There’s not just one cause for retinal diseases.

• You can inherit some conditions, like Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease and retinitis pigmentosa.
• Other types of retinal damage (retinopathy) can happen along with other conditions. Diabetes and high blood pressure can damage blood vessels, which then causes damage to your retina. Inflammatory conditions can also cause damage.
• Eye injuries can damage your retina and the macula. Macular pucker sometimes happens after eye surgery.
• Some types of retinal damage, like cytomegalovirus retinitis, occur after an infection. The retinal disease itself isn’t infectious, though.

What are the risk factors for retinal diseases?

Some things can raise the risk of developing retinal diseases. They may include:

• Getting older.
• Smoking.
• Having obesity or overweight.
• Diabetes, hypertension or other conditions.
• Previous retinal tears or detachments.
• Having had previous eye injuries or surgeries.
• Family history of retinal diseases.
• Severe myopia (being very nearsighted).
• Medication such as hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil®), pentosane polysulfate and others.

Sometimes, sex or ethnicity may be a risk factor, depending on the particular retinal disease.

What are the complications of retinal diseases?

Retinal diseases may result in vision loss or blindness if they aren’t treated. Ophthalmologists are the eye care providers who treat retinal conditions. However, providers can’t treat every form of retinal disease.

How are retinal diseases diagnosed?

An eye care provider checks for disease with every eye exam, so it’s important to follow your provider’s suggestion on how often to get your eyes checked. The provider will dilate your eyes with eye drops to be able to see back to your retina. If the exam leads your provider to believe that there might be issues with your retina, they may do further testing or send you to a retina specialist.

What tests diagnose or monitor retinal diseases?

A provider may order other tests, including:

• Optical coherence tomography.
• Fluorescein angiography, an imaging test that uses injected fluorescent dye to show blood flow patterns.
• Fundus autofluorescence, an imaging test that’s noninvasive.
• Electroretinography, a test that measures how well your retina works.
• Genetic testing to confirm an inherited condition.

How are retinal diseases treated?

Treatment depends on the type of retinal disease you have. Depending on the condition, treatment can stop the disease or slow down how quickly it gets worse. Therapy options include surgical procedures, laser treatments and injections of medicines into or around your eyes.

Vitrectomy is a surgical procedure to treat the following types of retinal disease:

• Retinal detachments.
• Macular pucker (epiretinal membrane).
• Macular hole.
• Eye injuries, including foreign objects in your eye.
• Eye infections.

Injections of medicine into the vitreous treat the following retinal conditions:

• Wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD).
• Advanced diabetic retinopathy.
• Macular edema from various causes.
• Eye infections.
• Inflammatory eye diseases.

Lasers treat:

• Blood vessels that have grown where they shouldn’t be.
• Retinal tears.
• Central serous retinopathy.
• Macular edema.

Other treatments for retinal detachment include:

• Scleral buckle surgery: A surgeon sews a piece of silicone on the outside of your eye to indent your sclera.
• Cryoplexy: Intense cold (cryotherapy) creates scarring that closes a tear or detachment.
• Pneumatic retinopexy: A surgeon injects a gas bubble into your eye to keep your retina in place. Your provider must use cryotherapy or a laser in combination with this procedure.

Other treatments for retinal conditions include:

• Antibacterial, antifungal or antiviral drugs for severe infections.
• “Cold” laser to treat central serous retinopathy and other retinal disorders.

Complications/side effects of the treatment for retinal diseases

The complications or side effects of the treatment for retinal conditions depend on many factors, such as the type of treatment, your general health and the condition you have.

In general, surgical risks may include:

• Infection.
• Scarring.
• Dry eyes.
• Blurred vision.
• High or low pressure in your eye.
• Decreased vision.
• High eye pressure.
• Bleeding.

How long does it take to recover from treatment for retinal diseases?

Recovery times depend on the type of treatment you have and the retinal disease you have. For instance, if you have a gas bubble in your eye, it may take several weeks for the bubble to go away. You may be off work for two to four weeks. You also can’t fly or inhale nitrous oxide for dental procedures with a gas bubble (but this is only temporary).

If you have injections into your eye, your provider might tell you to rest your eyes, use artificial tears and avoid rubbing your eyes, but you won’t really have a “recovery time.”

Can a damaged retina be cured?

In some cases, damaged retinas can heal or be repaired. Some conditions don’t have cures. It’s best to discuss your individual situation with your provider.

Are retinal diseases preventable?

You can’t prevent some retinal diseases, like those that you inherit.

How can I lower my risk of retinal diseases?

In some cases, you may be able to lower your risk of developing retinal disease by:

• Managing chronic conditions like high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes and overweight or obesity.
• Getting your eyes checked on the schedule suggested by your eye care provider.
• Protecting your eyes by wearing protective equipment when working or when participating in contact sports.

What can I expect if I have a retinal disease?

The outlook for retinal diseases depends on the type of disease you have. Discuss your situation with your provider. They’ll be able to explain your condition and work with you to find the best treatment. From there, you’ll know what to expect in terms of your vision and overall recovery.

When should I see my healthcare provider about retinal disease?

Getting regular eye examinations is important, especially if you have another condition that may be a risk factor for retinal disease.

Contact an eye care provider if you have any changes in your vision.

When should I go to an emergency room?

You should go to an emergency room or call 911 if you:

• Have a sudden complete or partial loss of vision.
• Have severe eye pain.
• Have severe eye injury or trauma.

What questions should I ask my healthcare provider about retinal disease?

You should feel able to ask your healthcare provider any question that you have. You may want to ask:

• Is my condition treatable? Is it curable?
• What type of side effects can I expect?
• What kind of medication or lifestyle changes may help stop my symptoms from getting worse?
• Is it likely that I’ll lose my vision?
• Can you recommend services to cope with vision loss?
• Am I eligible to participate in a clinical trial?

A note from Cleveland Clinic

All retinal diseases aren’t alike. It’s important to have a good understanding of your particular condition and to pay attention to any changes in your vision. Early diagnosis and treatment usually provide the best results. You may have many different feelings when it comes to dealing with your eye condition. Ask for what you need. Your healthcare team wants to support you in all things.