Welcome to California Retina Consultants, a Center for Vitreoretinal Care
Our practice first opened its doors in 1969, as the first to provide vitreoretinal care to patients on the Central Coast of California. Since that time, California Retina Consultants has expanded inland, earning a reputation as a world-class specialty practice that serves as a center of excellence for medical and surgical vitreoretinal care. We’re also affiliated with prestigious hospitals and medical centers, including UC Santa Barbara Neuroscience Center and the Diabetes Collaborative Research Consortium and Eye Disorder Consortium.
Placing Great Value on Vitreoretinal Health
We are dedicated to ensuring the health and well-being of the retina, the super thin layer of tissue that lines the back surface of the eye and sends visual images to the brain. A major part of the central nervous system, you can think of the retina as the film in a camera. Its central portion – the macula – is responsible for reading vision. The cavity of the eye is filled with a clear gel called the vitreous.
We provide comprehensive medical and surgical treatment for all disorders of the retina, macula, and vitreous. As many may cause visual loss, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), we focus on their diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Limiting our practice strictly to vitreoretinal disease enables us to provide a high level of specialization and expertise in treating these difficult conditions.
Convenient, Cutting-Edge Diagnosis and Treatment
Since opening our doors, California Retina Consultants has become one of the world’s largest and most highly respected retina groups. Each of our 12 locations features advanced diagnostic, medical, and surgical technology and equipment, including state-of-the-art ophthalmic imaging capabilities. Our skilled and experienced technicians and medical consultants can perform a host of tests and screenings, ensuring a faster turnaround time for diagnoses.
Our medical team of retina specialists and surgeons is also able to begin treatment protocols earlier, helping to preserve patients’ vision. Among our diverse treatment options are oral medications or in-office laser procedures. We’re proud to have pioneered the use of anti-VEGF injections to treat conditions like AMD. Should more advanced surgical procedures be necessary, they’re generally performed at a local hospital or outpatient surgery center. We were the first practice in the Western United States to utilize small-gauge surgery.
Our board-certified/eligible ophthalmologists have completed extensive fellowship training in medical and surgical vitreoretinal diseases at the most prestigious medical centers and universities, including Harvard University and Johns Hopkins. Experts in various vitreoretinal disciplines and subspecialties, they’ve achieved numerous honors and awards, and regularly write and contribute to leading academic publications.
Research and Learning Essential to Our Success
To provide high-quality medical care and treatment, we feel it’s crucial to pursue research and education, whether for our physicians and staff or our patients. Staying updated on the latest findings allows us to provide new and effective treatments. Our physicians have played a large role in groundbreaking national and international clinical trials involving novel treatments, including those for wet AMD and diabetic retinopathy.
A good deal of our research is conducted through a fellowship program with the California Retina Research Foundation (CRRF), a nonprofit, Santa Barbara-based organization, devoted to the prevention of blindness through the advancement of research and education in vitreoretinal diseases. This allows our physicians to teach advanced diagnostic and surgical techniques to doctors on a global level.