chandelier lighting for cataract surgery

This patient has a non-clearing vitreous hemorrhage from proliferative diabetic retinopathy in addition to a cortical cataract. Our guest surgeon Aureliano Moreno MD from Tijuana, Mexico is performing a combined cataract surgery and pars plana vitrectomy with endo-laser for pan-retinal photocoagulation. The challenge is that the vitreous hemorrhage is blocking the red reflex and even with trypan blue dye, the anterior capsule is difficult to see with the microscope lighting.

Dr. Moreno does something innovative: he uses the chandelier lighting system to backlight the cataract from the vitreous cavity. This allows good visualization during the cataract surgery and a beautiful result. He goes on to perform the vitrectomy and finish the case, doing a beautiful job.

Click below to learn from this clever and innovative surgery: