BostonSight Continues PROSE Provider Network Expansion in Canada

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Precision Cornea Centre in Ottawa Will Increase Access to Life-Changing Eye Care for People with Severe Corneal Disease

Dr. Brittany Yelle in blue scrubs

Dr. Brittany Yelle

Needham, Mass. –August 17, 2021 – BostonSight®, a nonprofit eye healthcare organization and research center dedicated to saving sight and improving quality of life for patients, announced today that Precision Cornea Centre of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has joined the PROSE Provider Network. Dr. Brittany Yelle, OD, will become the newest PROSE Provider. Precision Cornea Centre is a leading corneal specialty practice led by Dr. Kashif Baig, MD, MBA, FRCSC, and includes corneal surgeons Dr. Darrell Lewis, MD, FRCSC and Saama Sabeti, MD, MPH, FRCSC. With the addition of Precision Cornea Centre, the BostonSight PROSE Provider Network now includes 19 sites in four countries.

“With the addition of PROSE to our practice, we can offer more options to patients with severe ocular surface disease,” said Dr. Baig. “PROSE is a specialized medical treatment that may avoid the need for surgical intervention while providing life-changing results.”

PROSE (prosthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem) is a medical treatment that saves sight in individuals with advanced ocular surface disease. PROSE treatment teams include cornea specialist ophthalmologists and optometrists who have completed an intensive BostonSight PROSE Clinical Fellowship. During treatment, doctors customize prosthetic lens devices from gas-permeable polymers for each patient’s condition and unique eye shape to improve vision and comfort and promote long-term healing of the ocular surface.

For many people, PROSE treatment is their only option to restore visual function and end suffering from critical and devastating eye issues resulting from complications of severe dry eye, keratoconus, ocular GvHD, Sjögren’s Syndrome, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, corneal damage or injury, and other corneal diseases.

“At BostonSight we continue to expand our network of PROSE providers so that more patients can access this life-changing treatment,” said Sara Yost, BostonSight President and CEO. “With the addition of Precision Cornea Centre, we are better positioned to help more patients in Canada. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Yelle, Dr. Baig, and the Precision Cornea Centre team to the PROSE Network.”

A full list of PROSE Network Sites can be found on the BostonSight website at https://www.bostonsight.org/find-a-provider/

About Precision Cornea Centre

Precision Cornea Centre was established in 2019 as the first and only non-hospital academic subspecialty clinic in Canada devoted solely to cornea and anterior segment pathology. The Centre is part of public health care and welcomes patients from across Canada and internationally. https://www.precisioncornea.com/

About Dr. Brittany Yelle

Dr. Brittany Yelle is Canadian and an American Board-Certified optometrist. She graduated from the University of Montreal School of Optometry. As part of her clinical rotations, Dr. Yelle completed a joint internship with EyeDOCS and Precision Cornea Centre, where she gained experience in the diagnosis and management of ocular disease with a concentration in cornea and anterior segment pathology. Dr. Yelle has traveled with Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) to provide eye care in Ecuador and has participated in the University of Montreal’s mobile clinic (Regard collectif), which offers full eye exams to the homeless population. She is also passionate about specialty contact lenses and ocular surface disease, her areas of interest at Precision Cornea Centre.

About Dr. Kashif Baig

Dr. Kashif Baig, a Cornea, Anterior Segment, Cataract, and Refractive Surgeon, is the Founder/Medical Director of Precision Cornea Centre and the Medical Director at Herzig Eye Institute Ottawa. He currently serves as the President of the Canadian Cornea, External Disease, and Refractive Surgery Society, and the Executive Director of the Sally Letson Foundation. Dr. Baig is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa, Pediatric Cornea Consultant at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Clinical Investigator in Regenerative Medicine at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and Director of the Cornea, Anterior Segment, and Refractive Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Ottawa Eye Institute. He completed his medical and residency training at McGill University, MBA Degree (specializing in Health Services Management) at McMaster University, and Fellowship training in the United States. Dr. Baig has a strong interest in the development and implementation of surgical innovations in corneal and anterior segment surgery.

About BostonSight®  
BostonSight has saved the sight of thousands of individuals suffering from ocular surface disease, corneal disease, injury, or damage. Founded in 1992, the Needham, MA, Center of Excellence includes a clinic, research center, and state-of-the-art FDA-certified and ISO-compliant manufacturing lab. BostonSight PROSE™ Treatment is available at top medical centers around the U.S., Canada, and India. BostonSight SCLERAL was launched to expand access to global scleral lens technology. BostonSight SCLERAL has partnerships with Spectrum International in Latin America and L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in the Middle East and India.

Contact:

Michele Hart
BostonSight
(617) 669-4225
mhart@bostonsight.org

Dr. Karen Carrasquillo honored as one of Most Influential Women in Optical

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BostonSight’s Dr. Karen G. Carrasquillo has been honored as an Innovator in Vision Monday’s Most Influential Women in Optical.  Dr. Carrasquillo
was selected for Dr. Karen G. Carrasquillo headshot with white coatinnovation in scleral lens design and for her commitment to expanding education abroad, particularly in Latin America, Europe, and India.

Vision Monday considered women who are making a difference in the optical field in five categories: Executive Suite, Mentors, Rising Stars, Innovators, and Above & Beyond.  Editors had more than 220 nominees to choose from and 49 were selected across the five categories.

Read about Dr. Carrasquillo in the July/August issue of Vision Monday.

 

Dehydration and Dry Eye

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One of the most common reasons that people visit an eye care professional is dry eye. In fact, dry eye has become so pervasive that July has been designated Dry Eye Month.

What causes dry eyes?

Dry eye is one of the most common eye conditions. It is caused by a lack of tears or poor-quality tears on the surface of the eye. Our tears serve many functions – protecting the eye from infection, moisturizing the eye, and playing a vital role in maintaining a smooth eye surface to provide good vision. When tears are not being produced or are poor quality, the result is dry eye. Dry eye disease has varied causes, including the body not producing enough tears, tear production that lacks enough oily or mucous components, eye surgery complications, or systemic illness that affects the eyes. Causes can include side effects from certain medications, hormone changes, aging, medical conditions such as Sjogren’s syndrome or ocular Graft vs. Host disease, or damage to the eye.

What’s the best treatment for dry eyes

BostonSight PROSE treatment is an effective solution for patients with severe dry eye or dry resulting from an advanced medical condition.  BostonSight SCLERAL lenses are an effective solution for patients with mild to moderately severe dry eye. Home care also helps promote comfort in conjunction with PROSE or scleral lens treatment. Drinking plenty of fluids is often recommended and seems to be a rather simplistic solution for dry eye. Does staying hydrated really have an impact on dry eye? New research finally answers this question. Researchers at the University of Bangor in the United Kingdom set out to determine whether there was a relationship between dehydration and dry eye. They selected a small group of older patients for this study as dry eye is prevalent in this age group and there is also a greater susceptibility for dehydration among older adults. In assessing each individual for hydration levels and degree of dry eye, these researchers found that higher rates of dry eye were directly correlated with those who had sub-optimal levels of hydration.

Can drinking more water help with dry eyes?

Another study, published in Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology (Sherwin J, Kokavec J, and Thornton S N) in November 2015 performed a review of the “current evidence implicating changes in hydration and their association with ocular physiology and morphological characteristics.” The authors concluded that “findings indicate that assessment of hydration status may be an important consideration in the management of patients with chronic eye diseases and undergoing eye surgery.” These study conclusions provide preliminary evidence for the importance of those with dry eye to ensure adequate hydration. Further research may identify whether specific whole-body hydration might be a therapeutic intervention for those who suffer from dry eye. Drinking plenty of fluids is an important component of self-care treatment for dry eye in addition to being necessary for good overall health.

More resources:

The Dry Eye Foundation is a nonprofit whose mission is to improve quality of life for people suffering from dry eye disease. Staged management and treatment recommendation for Dry Eye Disease This post is part of BostonSight’s archival content and was originally authored by Janice M. Epstein in 2015. Content has been updated to be current.  This content is informational in nature and should not be considered medical advice. Please reach out to your medical professional for questions about your vision.