What is a Retina Specialist?
A retina specialist is a subspecialist within the field of Ophthalmology. Dr. Raghu Murthy completed four years of medical school, four years of residency training in General Ophthalmology, and two years of fellowship training in Medical and Surgical Retina. Dr. Murthy additionally completed a one year fellowship in the Gene Therapy of eye diseases. This extensive training process gives Dr. Murthy the specific knowledge needed to care for your eyes and vision, as well as an understanding of the interplay between systemic diseases and their effects on the retina.
Click here for Dr. Raghu Murthy's Curriculum Vitae
What to expect for my first visit
At Retina Eye Specialists, we perform a complete dilated examination of both eyes. The dilation will make reading books difficult for several hours. Your far vision will not be affected, so you can still drive. Please bring sunglasses because the dilation will make your eyes sensitive to light. Please allot 1 to 2 hours for your initial visit. Depending on your medical history and physical examination, Dr. Murthy may order diagnostic tests in our office. After the tests are done, Dr. Murthy will go over them with you and discuss your diagnosis and treatment options. Please bring your driver’s license or government issued ID card and your medical insurance card(s) to our office. You may download and fill out new patient forms prior to your appointment:
New Patient Form
New Patient Form (Spanish)
What services we provide
At Retina Eye Specialists, we provide comprehensive eye care, including a dilated fundus exam and imaging studies. We use the latest technology for your visit, including digital fundus photography, digital indocyanine green angiography, digital fluorescein angiography, digital ultrasonography, high definition spectral domain optical coherence tomography, electronic medical records, electronic prescribing, and electronic medical billing.
For your convenience, we use in-office based treatments when appropriate for the treatment of retinal detachments, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and other vitreo-retinal diseases. We do outpatient microsurgical procedures when necessary at the leading hospitals and surgery centers in the Los Angeles area.
Diagnostic Tests
In order to evaluate your eye condition your doctor may order a digital fundus photography. The fundus photograph documents the findings in the macula, retina, and optic nerve in the posterior pole of the eye. The digital Indocyanine green and fluorescein angiography document the blood flow in the posterior pole of the eye. After injecting a small amount of indocyanine green and/or fluorescein dye (similar to food coloring) into the vein on your arm, photos will be taken of the back of your eyes over a period of several minutes. The dye will fill the vessels in the retina and highlight any areas of abnormal blood flow or vascular permeability. These photos can help your doctor evaluate a long list of retinal conditions including diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusions, age-related macular degeneration, etc.
Normal Fluorescein Angiogram Fluorescein Angiogram demonstrating leakage of dye
A high definition spectral domain optical coherence tomography scan (HD-OCT) is a non-invasive way of imaging the anatomy of your retina. Analogous to an ultrasound performed using light instead of sound, the state of the art OCT machines at Retina Eye Specialists can resolve details within your retina down to a few millionths of a meter. These scans are critical in evaluating numerous retinal conditions including age-related macular degeneration, epiretinal membranes, vitreo-macular traction, macular holes, etc.
Normal OCT image OCT demonstrating Macular Hole
Your doctor may also perform an digital ocular ultrasound as part of your exam. Similar to many other forms of ultrasound imaging, the test is performed with only gentle application of the ultrasound probe to the eyelids. This exam is a painless means of evaluating the state of the back of the eye in circumstances where the visualization of the retina is otherwise limited.
Treatment Modalities
Some examples of treatments that we employ:
Pharmocologic treatments:
•Intravitreal injections for the treatment of diabetic macular edema
•Subtenon injections for treatment of uveitis
•Intravitreal injections for the treatment of exudative(wet) Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Lucentis, Avastin, Eylea, Triamcinolone, Dexamethasone
•Anti-oxidant vitamin therapy for prevention of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Laser treatments:
•Focal laser treatment for diabetic macular edema
•Focal laser for macular edema from vein oclusion
•Focal laser treatment of retinal tears and lattice degeneration
•Pan-retinal photocoagulation for the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy
•Photodynamic therapy for the treatment of Exudative(wet)Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Surgical treatments:
•Vitrectomy for the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy
•Vitrectomy and scleral buckling surgery for the treatment of retinal detachments
•Vitrectomy and membrane peeling for the treatment of macular holes and macular puckering
•Radioactive plaque therapy for the treatment of intraocular tumors
Insurances We Accept
Our office’s aim is to provide the best quality care to all our patients. We accept a wide range of insurance. For uninsured patients we will provide a cash price.
The types of insurance that we accept include:
• Medicare with or without supplements
• Medi-Cal
• All PPO/POS insurance in or out of network
• Referral from HMO IPA's as listed below
We are an in-network provider for the following PPO insurance companies:
• Aetna PPO/POS
• Anthem Blue Cross PPO/POS; please verify with your insurance
• Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO
• Blue Shield of California PPO
• Cigna PPO/POS Open Access
• Health Net PPO/POS
• Interplan Health Group PPO
• MultiPlan Inc
• Pacificare PPO
• Premier Provider Network, Inc. (PPNI)
• Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
• United Health Care PPO
We are a provider for the following HMO IPA's:
• Bella Vista IPA
• Global Care IPA
• Health Care LA IPA
If you have no insurance, you will be charged the cash price.
Where We Do Surgery
Huntington Ambulatory Surgery Center
625 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 380
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 229-8999
Raymond Renaissance Surgery Center
125 N. Raymond Ave., Suite 212
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 529-3937
Specialty Surgical Center
9001 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 300
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 275-1646
San Gabriel Valley Medical Center
438 West Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91778
(626) 289-5454
Important Eye Related Websites
American Academy of Ophthalmology- the premier organization of eye M.D.s in North America.
Eye Care America- a public service foundation for eye care in America.
MedlinePlus- a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine covering information on health related topics.
National Eye Institute- one of the centers of research in ophthalmology, part of the National Institutes of Health.
