Glossary R-V, retinal break to vitrectomy

retinal break
defect in the periphery of the retina that occurs in most cases spontaneously or as the consequence of an injury; if untreated, it may lead to a retinal detachment. A retinal break which occurs spontaneously makes itself felt by the perception of flashes, dot- or threadlike floaters in the field of vision. Emergency!
 
retinal detachment
detachment of the retina from the inner surface of the eye, mostly caused by a retinal break; if untreated, it leads to a rapidly progressing failure of the visual field up to the loss of sight. A first symptom often is the perception of a dark shadow in the periphery of the visual field. Emergency!

strabismus (squint)
disorder in the interaction of both eyes with a deviation of the optic axes of both eyes and the loss of the stereoscopic vision. It occurs mostly at an early age – often shortly after birth already – as a squint inwards with a normal movability of both eyes and leads, unless treated, to a poor vision of one eye; more rarely it begins at an adult age and then it is mostly a paralytic strabismus with a strabismus angle which varies according to the line of vision and a disturbing double vision. An ophthalmological clarification is absolutely necessary!

thermotherapy, transpupillary
secondary measure for the treatment of intraocular tumors: a laser beam causes a local warming of the diseased tissue leading to its sclerosing without damaging the retina lying upon it.

vitrectomy
major ophthalmologic-surgical method used for the treatment of a multitude of severe retinal disorders as for instance retinal detachment and diabetic retinopathy.