Return to Vista in the news

3/17/99

Cable Channel NY1

with- Cheryl Wills

Bob Gallagher is an actor. His livelihood depends on going to auditions, but he started avoiding them because he couldn't read scripts without his glasses.

"I can't go to agents right now," says Gallagher. "I can't do anything because I can't see up close to be able to read."

Bob flew to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to see Dr. Barrie Soloway, an opthalmologist as well as the medical director of vision correction at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in Manhattan. Dr. Soloway is in Mexico to perform experimental surgery that for the first time promises to clear up fuzzy reading vision.

Dr. Soloway explains: "The lens in the eye continues to grow as we get older. As we get to 45-50 years old, it grows enough so it starts to crowd the muscle of the eye that moves the lens. That doesn't allow us to read at the distance we tend to read in."

Dr. Soloway is one of a handful of American doctors who may be able to correct the condition known as presbyopia. The experimental procedure is called Surgical Reversal of Presbyopia (SRP). It involves inserting four implants around the eye. The implants give the eye muscle more room to work.

Well, you may be wondering why we had to travel in Mexico to do this story. This procedure - even though it's being done in France - is not approved for use in the United States yet. Dr. Soloway will get FDA approval to begin clinical trials in New York in April 1999.

During the surgery, Dr. Soloway explained to Bob: "I'd like you to open your eye Bob, then we're going to start giving you more anesthetic drops, okay?"

During the procedure, a special shield is used to protect Bob's eye from the bright light of the operating microscope.

After making an incision in the white part of the eye, Dr. Soloway prepares a tunnel to insert the implant. Dr. Soloway then inserts four implants to give the eye muscle more room and significantly improve reading vision.

But this procedure is not permanent. Dr. Soloway says, "This surgery should give you back around 20-25 years worth of focus. So if you're 45, and you have the surgery now, you should get to be 65-70 before you started to need reading glasses again."

The surgery - which lasts about an hour - is also reversible, because the implants can be taken out in a 10 minute procedure.

After stitching the incisions shut, Dr. Soloway covered the eye. Four days later, back in Manhattan, Dr. Soloway checked Bob Gallagher's eye.

Dr. Soloway says, "He has some redness in the eye still. He did have surgery - this isn't a laser procedure - but it's nothing more than I would expect for surgery in this area of the eye, as when I perform cataract, glaucoma or muscle surgery."

And for the first time, Bob Gallagher can read a newspaper without glasses. He says, "To have my life so much easier - if you ask me, 'Is this worth it? It's worth anything I went through to get to this."

Dr. Soloway will get FDA approval to begin clinical trials here in April, 1999. He's looking for patients to participate. You must be able to see well in the distance without glasses, wear reading glasses (that you would like to not be dependent on, be between 50 and 65 and have a healthy eye. The surgery is not covered by insurance and participants should expect to pay about $5,000 for the total cost of the procedure in the United States, to cover the costs of  the operating room and anesthesia fees..

For more more information you can call 1 (888) NYLASIK, or check out his website at www.nylasik.com

Dr. Soloway is the Director of Vista Alliance Eye Care Associates, which is located at:

160 East 56th Street
New York, NY 10022

If you don't want to be dependent on glasses or contact lenses call Vista Alliance Eye Care Associates, The New York LASIK doctors toll free at 1-888-NYLASIK (1-888-695-2745) for more information on any of our Vision Correction procedures (LASIK, INtacs, ICL or SRP), to schedule a personal evaluation to help you determine the right prodecure for you, or to register for one of our classes or  seminars