Sandhurst Eye Centre

10/01/2023

We are open for 2023. To make an appointment with one of our ophthalmologists please go to www.sandhursteyecentre.co.za for all their contact details and special interests.

13/12/2022

Sandhurst Eye Centre will be closing on Thursday the 15th of December and re opening on Monday the 9th of January 2023.

For all ocular related emergencies during this period please contact 011 217 7530 for the Dr on call.

On behalf of the Drs and staff, we wish all a prosperous and safe festive season.

29/11/2022

Sandhurst Eye Centre Christmas Party 2022

21/01/2022

10/01/2022

We are open for 2022. For contact details please check on www.sandhursteyecentre.co.za

30/09/2021

Bags under our eyes are caused by sagging skin. Certain home remedies can help lessen or eliminate the puffiness of bags and the appearance of shadows.

03/09/2021

Eye drops for glaucoma are helpful in treating glaucoma. Use your glaucoma eye drops exactly as your ophthalmologist tells you to. He or she may have you take more than one type.

27/08/2021

A chalazion and a stye are both lumps in or along the edge of an eyelid. In some situations it may be difficult to distinguish between a chalazion and an eyelid stye.

19/08/2021

Ever wondered why some people suffer with colour blindness?

Color blindness occurs when you are unable to see colors in a normal way. It is also known as color deficiency.

15/03/2021

Posterior Capsular Opacity (PCO) by Dr Barry Payne

Posterior capsular opacity is the commonest complication of routine cataract surgery, with a reported incidence of between 20 and 40 % within the first 5 years following cataract surgery. This rate is higher in younger patients and occurs in essentially 100% of children.

During routine phacoemulsification and intraocular lens insertion (cataract surgery), a person’s natural lens is removed from within a supporting bag structure in the eye. The new artificial intraocular lens is then inserted into this bag. Initially this bag is completely transparent and clear and therefore does not affect your vision, posterior capsular opacity occurs when the back surface of the bag starts to opacify.

Posterior capsular opacity results in a slowly progressive decrease in a person’s visual acuity and visual quality following cataract surgery and is often described as a ‘secondary cataract’. Symptoms in addition to blurred vision are glare, light sensitivity, haloes around lights, and poor contrast sensitivity.

There are several factors that contribute to this, but essentially after cataract surgery there are always residual lens cells remaining in the bag. These cells then multiply and change to various abnormal cells which can move across the surface of the initially clear capsule. Various cytokines and growth factors cause these cells to proliferate and change, and ultimately affect the vision of a person.


The diagnosis is relatively easy as the capsule is visible through the pupil using standard ophthalmic examination microsope, however often the pupil needs to be dilated to fully assess the condition.

Management is divided into preventative strategies to try and reduce the frequency and severity of posterior capsular opacity, and therapeutic. Prevention starts with the materials and the design of the intraocular lens, these include using materials less likely to stimulate the cells from proliferating, and the edge of the lens which attempts to prevent the cells from moving along the capsule. The second important factor is the surgical technique. An ophthalmologist will attempt to remove as much cellular material from the bag prior to inserting the new intraocular lens, and then position it appropriately. There have been medications proposed which would be injected into the eye at the time of surgery to further block the cells from proliferating, however none of the studies into this are conclusive and it is not widely used. In children, where, as mentioned the incidence is almost universal, the posterior capsule is removed at the time of surgery, but this adds other complexities to the surgery and almost no ophthalmologists remove a portion of the posterior capsule in adults.

If posterior capsular opacity does occur, the treatment is a Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy, or much less commonly a surgical capsulotomy. A Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy is a procedure performed in the consulting rooms with topical anaesthesia. The laser is mounted to an examination microscope and the procedure is done with the eye dilated. Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy is effective and well tolerated and very safe, however as with all procedures not completely without risk.

If you have had cataract surgery in the past and are now experiencing a deceased in the quality of your vision it is worth consulting with your ophthalmologist to firstly exclude other more serious conditions, and then if posterior capsular opacity is confirmed, for the management.

12/03/2021

And our family continues to grow......