When 58-year-old Frenchman Charlie Marlo, an artiste, woke up on a cold December 24 morning last year, he realised that something was drastically wrong. He could not see with his right eye. “I was very shocked. The night before, I could see perfectly well. I have never had any problems with my eyes. But when I woke up that morning, I had vision only in one eye,” said Marko, his English marked with a distinct French accent.
Alarmed by this, Marlo, who was on a winter sabbatical in a village in Karnataka at that time, immediately visited a local doctor, who diagnosed it as cataract. Not satisfied, Marlo made calls to his sister in France, and to his medical insurance company. Further tests with an ophthalmologist revealed that Marlo was suffering from retinal detachment, a rare condition wherein the retina, which is usually attached to the back wall of the eye, gets separated from its anchor.
An immediate surgery was the only thing that could save his vision. And subsequently, he rushed to Mumbai for the surgery. A week after surgery now, Marlo has regained his vision completely. “This kind of retinal detachment occurs approximately in one out of 10,000 people. And the sooner the surgery is performed, the better the chances of the patient recovering vision,” said Dr S Natarajan, medical director, Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, who performed the surgery on Marlo.
The eye surgeon used a surgical technique called Scleral Buckling, wherein the fluid from the retina is drained out, and a flexible silicon band is attached to the outer wall around the eye which pushes the retina back in position.
According to Dr Natarajan, retinal detachment usually occurs among patients suffering from myopia (short sightedness). “Marlo had undergone cardiac surgery and was on drugs which could cause bleeding during his eye surgery. The operation therefore was very risky,” added the eye surgeon.
“Eye surgery too brings in medical tourism and as like most surgeries, it is cheaper in India. Though there are not too many surgeons in India specialising in retinal surgery, a lot of patients are still opting for eye surgery in India. In the last year, we have performed surgeries on about 451 patients throughout the globe,” added Dr Natarajan.
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