Volume 13 June 2007:
Diabetic Retinopathy and the Primary Care Physician (PDF)

Diabetic retinopathy remains the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness in working age adults in spite of improved medical care of persons with diabetes and its associated disorders. This review highlights the opportunities for primary care physicians to play a key role in the prevention of vision impairment as summarized in Table 1.

Thomas W. Gardner, MD, MS
Jack and Nancy Turner
Professor of Ophthalmology
and Cellular &
Molecular Physiology
Penn State College of Medicine
Hershey, PA

Volume 12 May 2007:
Systemic Considerations in Glaucoma Therapy (PDF)

Glaucoma medical therapy has evolved significantly over the past decade and overall has become safer and more effective compared to that used in the past. In Pennsylvania, as in many other states, non-physicians (optometrists) now have prescribing rights for topical glaucoma medications. Since many glaucoma patients may not be under the care of ophthalmologists, primary care physicians need to be aware of the potential side effects and issues of topical glaucoma therapy.

Robert Noecker, MD, MBA
UPMC Eye Center Pittsburgh, PA

Volume 11 April 2007:
Age Related Macular Degeneration:
Pearls for Primary Care (PDF)

Why? Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease of major public health importance. The incidence and severity of the disease increases with age. The Beaver Dam Eye Study has shown that 31.1% of the population will have either early or late AMD by the age of 75 years and 7.6% will have late AMD develop over the years from 75 to 86.1

Article References (PDF)

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Medical Editors: Kenneth P. Cheng, MD, Karl R. Olsen, MD, Staff Editor: Kristi Spargo

Current Concepts in Ophthalmology (ISSN: 1069-8469, ISSN: 1936-1157) established in 1992, is an official publication of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ophthalmology.

All editorial correspondence should be directed to Karl R. Olsen, MD, at Retina Vitreous Consultants, 3501 Forbes Ave, Ste 500, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.All other correspondence should be directed to the Staff Editor, Kristi Spargo, at pao@pamedsoc.org

Copyright 2007: Pennsylvania Academy of Ophthalmology

All material subject to this copyright may be photocopied only for noncommercial scientific or educational purposes. The opinions of authors do not necessarily represent the policy of the publisher.