Macular Scarring

by Berndadine
(United States)

I saw an eye doctor last year about my vision.

She thinks it is macular scarring. She advised me to see another doctor but I have not.

I am so scared. What should I do?

REPLY

Hi Bernadine,

Thank you for your e-mail. Even though you are scared it is best to move forward to see a retina specialist. It is always better to know what you are dealing with and if there is treatment, sooner is better than later.

Go to this page and scroll down to find some links where you can find a retina specialist in or near your city.

Retina Doctor

Kind Regards,

Leslie

Macular Scar

by Martha B
(Vero Beach, FL USA)

My son has a scar in the back of his right eye very close to the macula but not in the macula, we discoverded when he was 3 years old and since then he has been treated, patching and wearing glasses.

As the Dr. explained he had a lazy eye because it is more difficult for him to use it (because of the volume of the scar he can not see the periferic, like a mountain blocking)

6 months ago his vision was almost perfect.
Yesterday he had his check up and his vision on that eye went down a lot.

The dr. took pictures and scan of the eye and nothing has changed.

I asked what could we do to make it better and he said maybe patching again 2 hours a day and wait and see if it works.

Because of his age (9 years) he said it might not work. Is there any other way we could help him improve his vision?

REPLY

Dear Martha,

This is a tough question to answer without knowing all the details. Your son is now 9, and, in my opinion, is at the age where patching may no longer be useful. I assume that you may be dealing with a pediatric ophthalmologist (they are usually the specialists that deal with lazy eye/amblyopia).

I doubt a scar on the retina would be changing so many years after not causing a problem.

My best recommendation is to follow the advice of a pediatric ophthalmologist and to make sure that your son has had a recent exam for glasses.

Best of luck,

Randall V. Wong, M.D.

Retina Specialist Fairfax, Virginia

Macular Scar - 4 Year Old

by Amanda
(Kentucky)

My 4 year old nephew has a macular scar on his right eye. Because of this he is completely blind in his right eye.

The retina specialist won't tell us anything. Is there any treatment for this? They said that it was caused from animal feces and did blood work to make sure. The blood work came back negative. I need some information about this.

Answer

Dear Amanda,

A macular scar in a 4 year old is probably congenital, that is, he was probably born with it.

Retina diseases related to animal feces are usually either:

1) Toxoplasmosis (maternal exposure while pregnant to a cat feces containing the organism) or

2) Ocular Histoplasmosis (any individual exposed to the organism, usually farms with chickens/ pigeons/bats).

My best guess is that he has congenital toxoplasmosis.

Given the limited information you provided, this is the most likely scenario I can think of as a retinal specialist.

There is no likely treatment.

It has been my experience that children with poor vision in one eye grow up completely normally and have no visual disability.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Randall V. Wong, M.D.

Dr. Wong is a Retina Specialist in Fairfax Virginia

Retina Specialist
Fairfax Virginia