D. Michael Colvard, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Top-Rated Eye Surgeon D. Michael Colvard, M.D., FACS

Dr. Colvard is recognized as one of the nation´s preeminent eye surgeons. Trained at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Colvard was an Associate Consultant in eye surgery at the Mayo Clinic before coming to Los Angeles, where he has been active in private practice, in medical research, and in post-graduate teaching for twenty-five years.

Dr. Colvard has been recognized year after year as one of “America’s Top Ophthalmologists” by the Consumer Research Council of America, an independent research organization in Washington D.C. and also as one of the nation’s top-rated eye surgeons in the Guide To Top Doctors, published by The Center for Study of Services, Consumer Checklist.

This independent consumer advocacy and information organization based the selection on a large survey of physicians and surgeons across the country. The goal of this study was to find the doctors that other doctors would chose for their own care, if they were to need a physician. Dr. Colvard was acknowledged as one of the most highly recommended eye surgeons in Southern California.

Dr. Colvard has published widely in the field of ophthalmology and is a leading authority in the use of lasers in eye surgery and new intraocular lens technology. He was one of the primary investigators for the FDA study of the new Crystalens Accommodative Intraocular Lens and was one of the first three surgeons in United States to implant this new “presbyopia correcting” lens. He is nationally recognized both as an educator and an innovator in eye surgery.

Medical Educator
Dr. Colvard is a frequent lecturer at courses for eye surgeons both nationally and internationally. He has received the prestigious "Honor Award" for his commitment and dedication to teaching by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and has been elected to the Board of Directors of the American College of Eye Surgeons.

Innovator in Eye Surgery
Dr. Colvard has developed many techniques and designed a variety of instruments used in eye surgery all over the world. The focus of Dr. Colvard´s innovative work has always been patient safety. For example, the "Colvard Pupillometer," an instrument used in the preoperative evaluation of patients for laser vision correction, was designed and developed by Dr. Colvard. This device, used by virtually every outstanding Lasik surgeon in the world today, has helped to improve the process of patient selection in laser vision correction. The use of Dr. Colvard´s device helps surgeons to identify which patients are likely to have problems with night vision following Lasik before any surgery is performed. This allows careful surgeons to properly counsel patients who are at high risk to have problems with night vision.

Dr. Colvard is a member of the American Medical Association. He is a Diplomat of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons, and is a founding member of the American College of Eye Surgeons. He is presently the Director of the Center for Ophthalmic Surgery, and the Colvard Center for Vision Correction in Encino, California.

Dr. Michael Colvard was chosen as a recipient of the American Academy of Ophthalmology´s 1994 Honor Award. The Honor Award program recognizes individuals for their lifetime contributions to teaching and to scientific advancement of the field of ophthalmology. The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the largest and most prestigious scientific society for eye surgery in the world. Its educational programs, both at the regional and the national level, are widely considered the most advanced and comprehensive in existence.

Dr. Colvard has taught courses demonstrating new techniques in ophthalmic surgery to his colleagues at the Academy for many years. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the USC School of Medicine and is also recognized as a scientific innovator in medicine. He was the first eye surgeon in the world to remove cataracts surgically utilizing the Erbium laser. This year he was invited to present a review of his experience with the Erbium laser for cataract removal at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's annual national meeting in San Francisco, and at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons annual meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.

Dr. Colvard elected to Board of Directors of the
American College of Eye Surgeons D. Michael Colvard, M.D., F.A.C.S.

The American College of Eye Surgeons has recently elected Dr. Colvard to its Board of Directors. Dr. Colvard was chosen to the Board because of his contributions and commitment to research and teaching in eye surgery. Dr. Colvard is a past recipient of the "Honor Award" for teaching at the American Academy of Ophthalmology and is a frequent lecturer at international meetings. This year he has been invited as a quest speaker at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Vienna, and at the Belgian Ophthalmologic Society in Brussels.

New Publications and Innovations
Since our last newsletter, Dr. Colvard has continued to be very busy both as a medical writer and innovator. He has published two new scientific journal articles and contributed chapters for two new textbooks on laser eye surgery. In addition, he has developed a diagnostic instrument used in refractive laser surgery world-wide, and received patents on two other devices used in laser eye surgery.

Dr. Colvard described his most recent innovations in articles of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. The first paper describes a device, designed by Dr. Colvard, which makes cataract surgery safer and easier. The second paper describes an instrument, called the Colvard Pupillometer, which aids in the preoperative evaluation of laser vision patients. The latter device was designed in conjunction with Dr. Colvard´s son, Matthew Colvard. Both devices are now being used by eye surgeons throughout Europe and the U.S.

Scientific Paper Honored at National Meeting
Ocular Surgery News, an educational news agency for eye surgeons recently highlighted Dr. Colvard's presentation to the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. The news agency selected his paper as the top presentation at this year´s symposium of eye surgeons held in Seattle, Washington. Almost 600 papers were presented at the symposium and reviewed by Ocular Surgery News. It selected 10 papers which they believed were of greatest importance and rated Dr. Colvard's paper number one. The selection was made of papers that "set the stage for the next decade of development in cataract and refractive surgery."

Dr. Colvard's paper described a device of his invention designed to make eye surgery safer. The device called the capsular shield helps to protect certain delicate eye structures during surgery.

New Text Book on Eye Surgery Published
Dr. Colvard was selected to write the section on erbium laser technology in eye surgery for the recently published textbook New Technology and Clinical Application. Dr. Colvard is an internationally recognized leader in the field of laser technology in eye surgery and is an Assistant Clinical Professor at USC School of Medicine. This year he has presented scientific papers at meetings in Amsterdam and Rome as well as in the United States.

Dr. Colvard's extensive research on the use of lasers for eye surgery has received international attention. He presented his work during the past year to the Congress of European Ophthalmological Societies in Brussels, Belgium and later to the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons in Paris, France. In addition, Dr. Colvard presented further laser research results to the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons at its annual meeting in Seattle this year.

Professional Research— Erbium Laser
After years of intensive research, a revolutionary new system for cataract and glaucoma surgery has received preliminary approval for clinical use by the Federal Drug Administration. This system, which utilizes an entirely new laser (the Erbium laser) was developed by Dr. Michael Colvard and his coworkers at Premier Laser Systems in Irvine, California.

A team of researchers, lead by Dr. Colvard, began a number of years ago to design a device which could be used in all aspects of eye surgery. In 1991 the team received full FDA approval for the use of the instrument to perform anterior capsulotomies (a critical step in the cataract procedure). The recent approval by the FDA expands the use of the instrument to include the complete removal of cloudy cataract tissue. Approval has also been received to begin treatment of patients with glaucoma so severe that it cannot be controlled using routine glaucoma medications.

A cataract is a cloudiness in the focusing lens of the eye. Cataracts typically occur in individuals over 65 years of age and are associated with a gradual loss of visual clarity. Difficulty with driving caused by poor vision, particularly at night, is the most common early symptom of cataract changes. During the past several years, tremendous advances have been made in the treatment of cataracts. These advances have lead to safer procedures with more rapid visual recovery. At our facility, the cataract procedure is performed in the office surgical suite under local anesthesia. Present techniques allow patients to return home shortly after the procedure. The eye patch is removed on the afternoon of surgery and visual recovery begins immediately. Patients are typically able to resume all their normal activities within a few days of the procedure. Through a continuous evolution of new technology, Dr. Colvard hopes to make this remarkable successful procedure even simpler, more reliable, and safer.

Glaucoma is another common eye disorder (unrelated to cataracts) which can lead to loss of vision. Glaucoma is caused by an excessive pressure within the eye. In every eye there is a nutrient fluid, called aqueous, which is produced to maintain the health of the intraocular tissues. This fluid is generally produced at a constant rate and leaves the eye through the drainage channels at the same rate that it is produced. The aqueous drainage channels lead to tiny blood vessels in the back of the eye which carry away the aqueous into the general circulation. In patients with glaucoma, there is a reduction or blockage of the flow of aqueous out of the eye and the pressure inside the eye builds up. Although this increased pressure is usually painless, it causes gradual damage to the optic nerve. Damage to the optic nerve leads to loss of vision. Most of the cases of glaucoma can be managed successfully and visual loss can be avoided by simply using eye drops. These drops reduce eye pressure by either reducing aqueous production or increasing aqueous drainage.

In severe cases of glaucoma, however, the pressure remains high in spite of medication. It is in cases such as these that the new Erbium laser device will be used to create new drainage channels for the eye and thereby help to control the glaucomatous condition.