What Signals Proliferated Sickle Cell Retinopathy?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Seethal Jacob
In this program:
For proliferated sickle cell retinopathy, what are signals of the condition? Watch as expert Dr. Seethal Jacob explains signs and symptoms of proliferated sickle cell retinopathy, also known as PSR, and shares recommendations for starting annual screening with an ophthalmologist for retinopathy prevention.
Transcript
Leo Hesse:
Now, I have heard this abbreviation used loosely a lot, it's PSR, also known as proliferated sickle cell retinopathy. Can you tell us a bit about this, and what are the signals and symptoms of this PSR?
Dr. Seethal Jacob:
Yeah, that's a great question. And something I think can be easily overlooked, if not looking for it. So proliferative sickle retinopathy is essentially the eye complication that I was mentioning earlier, just like we have blood vessels in the rest of our body, we also have blood vessels that supply the retina in our eye. The retina is really important for vision, and in proliferative sickle retinopathy those blood vessels get damaged in the...the body naturally wants to make sure that supply to the retina, the blood supply to the retina continues, and so it tries to create new vessels to bypass some of those damaged vessels, unfortunately, when those new vessels come into play, they may not be as strong as the original ones, they may not make their way fully to the retina, and the complication that results from that is loss of vision. Sometimes there are very subtle signs that a child may not even notice, other times just changes in vision alone, so seeing...you may not be able to see quite as far as you normal can be early signs of retinopathy, but because those changes can be so subtle, that's why we recommend actually yearly visits with an ophthalmologist, with an eye doctor who can look at your retina and make sure that it stays healthy, and we recommend those yearly visits start at 10 years of age, even though retinopathy tends to occur later, we want to start that surveillance early so we don't miss an opportunity to correct any early retinopathy that may be happening.
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