The Center plays an important role in the process of advancing clinical research in this country. We have sponsored numerous research projects in the areas of orbital myositis, ocular toxocara, and contact lens rehabilitation for congenital cataracts. The medical staff at the Center has contributed to several chapters in ophthalmology books, landmark papers concerning the treatment of acute dacryocystitis in newborns, the classification and treatment of bilateral superior oblique palsy and secondary angle closure glaucoma in children with retinopathy of prematurity.

Our primary goal is to develop innovative and less invasive therapies for vision threatening disorders. Every breakthrough treatment for disease or injury begins with research, and clinical research allows the physician to make important observations on the patient’s disease and outcome after treatment. Clinical research shows what is happening in real time with real patients, our patients, not what is going on in the test tube. Our proposed projects:

Ptosis

Surgical correction of ptosis in children, giving emphasis to scar reduction.

Our work on the small incision for ptosis surgery is the only of its kind. We have introduced the use of a thin long knife to make three eyebrow incisions. These heal quite nicely and one can barely see any scar formation. We are currently working on projects dealing with ptosis surgery in children to develop skin closures with very little or no scar formation. Ptosis is a condition in which the patient has very little ability to raise the upper eyelid. We are using different materials to perform the ptosis surgery trying to find the one that has the least complications and side effects. The children in the ptosis study will be children with severe ptosis and will be entered in this study of operating on the superior oblique tendon. The Ptosis project is in its first year and we have operated on 10 children using this technique.

Strabismus

We are studying children with superior oblique muscle overaction associated with horizontal strabismus as well as superior oblique muscle overaction secondary to inferior oblique muscle palsy. Our goal is to perform surgery without inducing cyclotorsional symptoms, which occur when doing a standard tenotomy of the superior oblique. Cyclotorsional problems are ones that cause the patient to see objects tilted. This project will help our patients have a better outcome for their surgery and suffer less morbidity from the procedure. The superior oblique study is now into its 5th year; we have operated on 200 patients with overacting superior oblique.

Projects in progress

• How to diagnose rare and malignant tumors.
• Retinal parasites in children.
• Rare presentations of Horner’s syndrome.
• Atypical Cogen's Syndrome in which the patient has hearing loss on a nerve deficit basis combined with iritis.