Eyeworld

87 EW RETINA February 2015 Contact information Elsner: aeelsner@indiana.edu want them to worry about it and get treatment sooner rather than later." EW Editors' note: Dr. Elsner has financial interests with Aeon Imaging (Bloomington, Ind.). > No Capital Commitments, No Maintenance Costs > Reliable, Up-To-Date Equipment when you need it > Dedicated Onsite Support from Trained and Credentialed Technicians > Marketing Support Drives Patient Adoption and Practice Development The time to adopt Laser Cataract Surgery is NOW. CATALYS ® The Precision Laser System has gone Mobile. MobileCATALYS.com | 1.800.963.7101 in some eyes. While this was not totally unforeseen, the extent of these in some took Dr. Elsner by surprise. "Some people have a lot of little ones, and you see them on OCT more than with fundus examination," she said. "But this was another step beyond that—they were everywhere, masses of them of all sizes." Insufficient categories This is clearly pointing to the fact that there are large individual dif- ferences in diabetic eyes, Dr. Elsner thinks. "Even though we have these categories—mild, non-proliferative, and moderate non-proliferative (retinopathy)—they don't match up with what we're seeing," she said. "There are already large differences early on." While some people are fine, others are not, and currently doctors do not know which are which, she said. From a clinical perspective, the results suggest that the current categories are insufficient. "There's a huge amount of difference between individual patients if you look at higher magnification," Dr. Elsner said. "The categories right now are too broad, and we need better definitions to classify the patients for following closely or treating more aggressively," she said. For those who are doing well, practi- tioners need to move forward with the treatment and check on these patients from time to time. Ultimately, Dr. Elsner hopes that the findings here drive home the need for early intervention in diabetic eyes. "So many people have diabetes and it's considered to be an epidemic worldwide," she said. "[We need to] get the word out that we need to help right away to save the sight of these people; [we need to] make sure that we can get the diabetes under control or put the macular edema right if possible." But it should not be a ques- tion of just hoping for the best, she said. "Something could be very wrong with the eye and yet because patients can see 20/20, they don't worry about it," she said. "But we

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