LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thomas C. Lee, MD, eye surgeon with The Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and a member of the physician team collaborating with the Armenian Eye Care Project (AECP), returned to Yerevan, Armenia, and neighboring rural areas last week, to educate even more doctors about complex blinding diseases in premature infants.
In July 2010, Dr. Lee joined the AECP in their annual mission to Armenia to teach local doctors how to save sight in children by diagnosing and treating Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), an aggressive blinding disease affecting one third of Armenian premature infants. After realizing the impact of intense and swift training sessions, the doctors determined that an interactive telemedicine and distance learning portal was needed to properly monitor exams and surgeries using advanced medical equipment from across the globe.
To date, Dr. Lee and his team have screened more than 300 children and observed more than 1,000 supervised exams over the internet. The doctors in Armenia have treated over 40 children with the laser eye equipment and administered sight-saving therapy to over 30 children that would have otherwise been completely blind.
“I was eagerly looking forward to going back to Armenia to see the impact of our last trip. It was literally the first time I have ever witnessed ‘see one, do one, teach one’ in action. During this trip, the team of doctors we trained throughout the year helped us teach new physicians and neonatologists in rural areas through an in-country training program,” said Dr. Lee.
In remote areas of Armenia, advanced technology is unheard of; therefore, the team of physicians trained local doctors how to inject Avastin, a monoclonal antibody that slows the growth of blood vessels, into the eye.
“We think our model of teaching through telemedicine can be replicated in other developing countries around the world where the infrastructure to teach physicians is limited,” said Dr. Lee. “With the support of the AECP and Armenian Ministry of Health, we hope kids will go on to see years of the world around them.”
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital in California and among the best in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious US News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States. Children’s Hospital is also one of America's premier teaching hospitals through its affiliation since 1932 with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.
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