Q: I am a 33 years old male from Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, working in a private steel company. Since the past 2 years I am having problem in my eyes. There is swelling in the veins due to which frequent haemorrhage is happening in the both eyes and the vision is decreasing. Presently I am taking treatment at Sankara Netralaya Chennai. They term this problem Eales Disease and vasculitis. As per them no reason has been found and no treatment is available. Presently, I have been advised steroids, Immuran (50 mg*3 daily) lots of precautions and undergoing Laser Photocoagulations number of times in both the eyes every 2 months. Now the problem has increased more and suddenly right vision becomes dark for a moment and regains. I want to ask the solution for above problem so that I can get rid of this disease and can live normal life?

A:Eales disease is an idiopathic obliterative vasculopathy that usually involves the peripheral retina of young adults. Clinical findings are characterized by avascular areas in the retina periphery, followed posteriorly by microaneurysms, dilatation of capillary channels, tortuosity of neighbouring vessels, and spontaneous chorioretinal scars. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, as many other retinal disorders can mimic Eales disease, especially conditions of retinal inflammation or neovascularization. Several treatments have been proposed for Eales disease; however, none of these treatments is of proven benefit. Treatments include thyroid extract, osteogenic hormones, androgenic hormones, and systemic steroids. No drugs have been found to be effective in the treatment of the underlying mechanism of Eales disease. Medications used in different studies have not been proven to be beneficial. The antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E have been suggested recently as a possible therapy because antioxidizing enzymes are deficient in the vitreous samples of patients with Eales disease. Surgery involves Moderately light, full-scatter laser photocoagulation to areas of nonperfused retina and this has become the treatment of choice in patients with Eales disease. More than 90% of patients can be brought to a morphological standstill with unchanging visual acuity. You must contact an ophthalmologist if a decrease or change in vision is noted. Also report visual symptoms of floaters or decreased vision as soon as possible, in order to implement effective treatment and to prevent the need of vitrectomy surgery for vitreous hemorrhage or retinal detachment.