What is the Retina?

The retina is a tissue of light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. Light enters the eyes carrying image information, and these cells convert the image energy to neural energy. The optic nerve connects to the retina, and carries this neural energy to the brain’s vision center at the back of the head. This is how we see what we are focusing on, and know what it is.

Diabetic Retinopathy

The eyes are nourished by tiny blood vessels which bring oxygen and nutrients, and carry away waste products. After a person has had diabetes for about ten years, it will often start to weaken these little capillaries in the retina, causing them to leak. Trying to restore full blood flow, the eyes grow new blood vessels, but they are abnormal and also leak.

Horizon EyeRoute, LLC

This is a separate company of Horizon Eye Care created specifically to partner with doctors who are the primary providers of care to a person with diabetes. If you have diabetes and see your diabetes doctor regularly, they can now take a digital retinal photo of each eye, without dilating the pupils. We just need to know who your diabetes doctor is so that we can contact him/ her about this new system. The number to Horizon EyeRoute is (704) 367- 8100.

Those images will be sent through a secure connection to the Horizon EyeRoute reading center. One of our highly-qualified ophthalmologists will interpret them and send a report to your diabetes doctor. The camera is a specialized color camera and the images will show the optic nerve, blood vessels, and the retina – in particular, the central retinal area called the macula. This is where direct central vision happens, and if there is damage there, your eyesight is in danger.

Superior Diabetes Monitoring

With these photos as a baseline, your diabetes can be monitored more effectively as it relates to your eyes. Your diabetes doctor can take a photo at the recommended intervals, and this will provide your eye doctor with up-to-date information. Also, it is not necessary for your eye doctor to be part of Horizon Eye Care in order for your primary diabetes doctor to take advantage of this unique service.

However, an annual eye exam is important for all diabetics. The remote retinopathy program is a screening tool only for diabetic retinopathy, and there are other diseases which should be caught early to protect your vision, such as glaucoma and cataracts. These and other diseases can only be detected through a complete eye exam by an eye doctor.

Our diabetic eye disease ophthalmologists are:

            Miriam E. Ridley, MD

            Strutha C. Rouse II, MD

            Frederick H.D. Weidman III, MD

Please call or email our office in Charlotte, North Carolina, if you would like to schedule a personal consultation. Our eye doctors are always happy to answer questions and explain how things work. They can help you keep your eyesight healthy and minimize the complications that diabetes might cause for you.

If you are a person with diabetes and have not been diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, you just need to schedule a routine eye exam once per year. Please see our routine eye care page for more information.