The Marietta Eye Clinic

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Northwest Atlanta's Comprehensive Eye Care Center

The Marietta Eye Clinic was originally founded in 1967 by Dr. Irving Staley. In 1973 Gerald E. Sanders, M.D. joined and the clinic was moved to Cherokee Street in Marietta, near WellStar Kennestone Hospital. Over the years multiple branch offices were added to the Clinic. In December 1996, the Marietta office relocated one half mile north to our 20,000 square foot facility on Canton Road.

The Marietta Eye Clinic has grown to include six locations, over ten doctors, and many subspecialties.

To find a location near you, visit our locations page.

To learn about insurance policies accepted at the Marietta Eye Clinic, visit the insurance information page.

The Marietta Eye Clinic System is a full-time comprehensive eye care center consisting of six offices located in the northern suburbs of Atlanta. Patient services include adult and pediatric eye examinations, cataract, laser and refractive surgery (including LASIK), and optical dispensing of eyeglasses and contact lenses.

Patient Services

The professional and administrative staff at the Marietta Eye Clinic constantly strive to provide the latest state-of-the-art medical, surgical and optical services. The list below includes some of the many services available:

Adult and Pediatric Eye Examinations
No Stitch Cataract Surgery and Lens Implants
Interwave LASIK Through Emory Vision
Glaucoma Disease Management
Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Management
Care For Macular Degeneration
Eye Muscle Problems
Eyelid and Tear Duct Surgery
Cosmetic Eye Surgery and BOTOX Cosmetic® Therapy
Eyeglass Dispensing
Contact Lens Dispensing (Single Vision & Multifocal Lenses)

The Marietta Eye Clinic offers patients the greatest connivence by having two in-office laser units, the argon and YAG lasers. No trips to the hospital are required for patients needing one of these treatments.

To learn about insurance policies accepted at the Marietta Eye Clinic, visit the insurance information page.

About Cataracts

Developing a cataract is one of those unfortunate things that befall most of us as we age. Between the ages of 52 and 64, you have a 50% chance of having a cataract, but you probably won't experience any problems with your vision until about 65. By 75, just about everyone has a cataract; and 50% of the people between 75 and 85 have lost some vision as a result.

Many generations have accepted poor vision in later years as an inevitable consequence of aging. But refinements in cataract surgery procedures and technological advances in lens replacement have changed this assumption dramatically, at least in the United States, where cataract surgery is the number one therapeutic surgical procedure performed on Americans 65 and older. Medicare pays $3.4 billion a year for 1 million of the 1.3 million cataract procedures performed annually.

What Is a Cataract?
A cataract is a cloudy or opaque area in the normally transparent lens of the eye. As the opacity thickens, it prevents light rays from passing through the lens and focusing on the retina, the light sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye. Early lens changes or opacities may not disturb vision. But as the lens continues to change, several specific symptoms including blurred vision; sensitivity to light and glare; increased nearsightedness; or distorted images in either eye, may develop.

The lens is located behind the iris, the colored portion of the eye, and the pupil, the dark center of the eye. Tiny ligaments, called zonules, support the lens capsule within the eye.

The lens has three parts, the capsule, the nucleus, and the cortex. The outer membrane, or capsule, surrounds the cortex which in turn surrounds the center or nucleus of the lens. If you imagine the lens as a piece of fruit, the capsule is the skin, the cortex is the fleshy fruit, and the nucleus is the pit.

Types of Cataracts
There are three types of cataracts. Each is described by its location on the lens. The most common type of cataract and the one associated with aging is called a nuclear cataract.

A nuclear cataract occurs in the center of the lens. Common symptoms include blurring or dimming of your vision, glare and visual distortion. A nuclear cataract can induce myopia, or nearsightedness, a temporary improvement in your reading vision sometimes referred to as "second sight." Unfortunately "second sight" disappears as the cataract gets worse.

The cortical cataract begins as wedge-shaped spokes in the cortex of the lens. The spokes extend from the outside of the lens to the center. When the spokes reach the center, they interfere with the transmission of light and cause glare and loss of contrast. Many people with diabetes develop this type of cataract. Although a cortical cataract usually develops slowly, it may impair both distance and near vision so significantly that surgery may be suggested at a relatively early stage.

A subcapsular cataract develops slowly and starts as a small opacity under the capsule, usually at the back of the lens. Significant visual symptoms may not appear until the cataract is well developed. Typical symptoms are glare and blur. A subcapsular cataract is often found in people with diabetes or high myopia, adults with retinitis pigmentosa, and in people taking steroids. Reprinted by permission of the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Management

If you have diabetes mellitus, your body does not use and store sugar properly. High blood-sugar levels can damage blood vessels in the retina, the back lining of the eye. If you think of the eye analogous to a camera, the retina is like the film in the camera. Therefore, any damage to the retina can adversely affect vision. The damage to retinal blood vessels is referred to as diabetic retinopathy.

Types of Diabetic Retinopathy
There are two types of diabetic retinopathy: nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). NPDR, commonly known as background retinopathy, is an early stage of diabetic retinopathy. Many people with diabetes have mild NPDR, which usually does not affect vision. However, there are two forms of NPDR that can cause vision loss:

Macular Edema is swelling of the macula, a small area in the center of the retina that allows us to see fine details clearly in the center of our vision. The swelling is caused by fluid leaking from retinal blood vessels. It is the most common cause of visual loss in diabetes. Vision loss may be mild to severe, but even in the worst cases peripheral vision continues to function.
Macular Ischemia occurs when small blood vessels in the macula close. Central vision blurs because the macula no longer receives sufficient blood supply to work properly.

PDR is present when abnormal new vessels (neovascularization) begin growing on the surface of the retina. PDR may cause more severe vision loss than NPDR because it can affect both central and peripheral vision. Unfortunately, the new, abnormal blood vessels do not resupply the retinal with normal blood flow. The new vessels can bleed and cause scar tissue which can adversely affect retinal function. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy causes visual loss in the following ways:

Vitreous Hemorrhage: The fragile new vessels may bleed into the vitreous, a clear, gel-like substance that fills the center of the eye. If the vitreous hemorrhage is small, a person might see only a few new dark floaters. A very large vitreous hemorrhage might block out all vision. It may take days, months or even years to resorb the blood, depending on the amount of blood present.
Traction Retinal Detachment: When PDR is present, scar tissue associated with neovascularization can shrink, wrinkling and pulling the retina from its normal position. Macular wrinkling can cause central visual distortion. More severe vision loss can occur if large areas of the retina are detached, or torn off the back of the eye.

How is diabetic retinopathy diagnosed?
A Marietta Eye Clinic physician will dilate your eyes and look inside at the retina with an instrument called an ophthalmoscope. If diabetic retinopathy is found, he or she may order a special test called a flourescein angiography to find out if you need treatment. In this test, a dye is injected into your arm and photos of your eye are taken to see where the retinal vessels are leaking.

How is diabetic retinopathy treated?
The best treatment is to prevent the development of retinopathy as much as possible. Strict control of your blood sugar will significantly reduce the long-term risk of vision loss from diabetic retinopathy. Other treatments include:

Laser Surgery. It is often recommended for people with macular edema and PDR. For macular edema, the laser is focused on the swollen, damaged retina near the macula to decrease the fluid leakage. The main goal of treatment is to prevent further loss of vision. It is uncommon for people who have blurred vision from macular edema to recover normal vision, although some may experience partial improvement. Therefore early detection and treatment are essential. For PDR, the laser is focused on all parts of the retina except the macula. This treatment, called panretinal photocoagulation, causes abnormal new vessels to shrink and prevents them from growing in the future. It also decreases the chance that vitreous bleeding or retinal distortion will occur.
Vitrectomy: In advanced PDR or vitreous hemorrhage that doesn’t clear, your doctor may recommend a vitectomy. During this microsurgical procedure which is performed in the operating room, the blood-filled vitreous is removed and replaced with a clear solution. Vitrectomy often prevents further bleeding by removing neovascularization that caused the bleeding. If the retina is detached, it can be repaired during vitrectomy surgery

Vision loss is largely preventable
If you have diabetes, it is important to know that today, with improved methods of diagnosis and treatment, only a small percentage of people who develop retinopathy have serious vision problems. Early detection of diabetic retinopathy is the best protection against loss of vision. You can significantly lower your risk of vision loss by maintaining strict control of your blood sugar and visiting your ophthalmologist regularly.

When to schedule an examination
People with diabetes should schedule examinations at least once a year. More frequent eye exams may be necessary after a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy has been made. Pregnant women with diabetes should schedule an appointment during the first trimester because retinopathy can progress quickly during pregnancy.