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Regaining Vision, Quality of Life Wichitan Martha Dandurand, age 76, started to retreat from her family and her life last year. "I would just sit for hours at a time or sleep," Dandurand says. She started missing important appointments, seemed to lose sense of time and wasn't opening her mail. Dandurand lives with her daughter and her family, and her family members started thinking her behavior might be the result of depression or dementia. During her annual eye exam in August, she was surprised to hear she had no vision in her right eye. She hadn't realized the deterioration of her sight during her withdrawal, she says. She was referred to neuro-ophthalmologist Michele Riggins, MD, of Grene Vision Group, to find the reason for her vision loss. What Dr. Riggins found not only saved Dandurand's vision, but possibly her life. A large brain tumor was causing Dandurand's optic nerve damage and behavior changes. "Had it not been for that exam, this would have been life- threatening," Dandurand says. In December, Dandurand underwent surgery to remove the tumor. "The most amazing thing is I'm starting to regain some vision in my right eye," says Dandurand, who notes she's also getting back to her old self again and interacting with what she describes as "an active household." Strabismus in adults can have many etiologies, says Dr. Riggins. It can be a recurrence of childhood stra- bismus or the result of trauma — including a stroke or inflammation — or a disease, such as thyroid eye disease or the chronic autoimmune neuromuscula r disease myasthenia gravis. Sometimes the pathogenesis lies within the brain, perhaps because of a tumor, a crania l ner ve being a ffected or how the brain has developed over time. Nonsurgica l and surgica l treatments are available, depending on the underlying cause and severity of the strabismus. Nonsurgical treatments include observation, the wearing of an eye patch on one eye or the placement of a prism in the patient's glasses, Dr. Riggins says. For exa mple, one of her patients had been able to control her double vision for a while with prism correc- tion and occlusion, but eventually her vision impairment worsened a nd she beca me home-bound. Dr. R iggins performed a 10-minute surgery on an extraocular muscle to help a lign the patient 's eyes a nd within hours the patient saw clearly. Among those adult strabismus cases treated surgically, more than 80 percent are successful, Dr. Riggins says. As a neuro-ophtha lmologist, Dr. Riggins a lso sees patients whose v ision ha s become impa ired for a n u n k now n rea son . Somet i mes t hose ca ses i nvolve underlying life-threatening causes. For example, one of her patients thought a cataract was causing his clouded vision until Dr. Riggins discovered a brain tumor had been pressing on his ocular ner ve fibers. Within days, he had surgery for the tumor. D r. Riggins, who completed one of the few surgical neuro-ophthalmologist fellowships in the country at Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City, sees patients at Grene Vision Group's Wichita and Hutchinson locations. To make a referral to D r. Riggins for a patient with unexplained vision loss or impairment, call Grene Vision G roup, 316-684-5158. n MRI multiple views, T1 and T2, showing large meningioma with significant midline shift and cerebral edema. This imaging was ordered due to the fact that Martha Dandurand had right optic nerve atrophy. Round-the-Clock Care The ophthalmologists and optometrists at Grene Vision Group — one of the largest doctor-owned eye care groups in the U.S. — provide total eye care for the entire family, including 24/7 emergency services. Call 316-684-5158 for emergency eye care needs. For more information about Grene Vision Group, visit grenevisiongroup.com. M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S G R E AT E R K A N S A S ■ 2 019 1 1