Sankara Nethralaya News
Sankara Nethralaya observes 28th Aradhana of Sri Maha Periyava
Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati, the 68th Peethadhipati of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti peetham, whose grace is felt even now by innumerable devotees across the world, has been Sanakra Nethralaya’s guiding light and the inspiration for our dear founder, Dr. S. S. Badrinath to establish India’s first eye hospital focusing on vitreoretinal subspecialty. In remembrance of Sri Maha Periyava, the 28th Aradhana of Sri Maha Periyava was held on 04th January 2022, at 5:00 pm in Sri V. D. Swami Auditorium. Dr. N. Angayarkanni compered the evening’s events, which was a blessed and refreshing beginning to the New Year.
The event opened with the auspicious Veda Gosham, followed by a prayer song sung by Mr. Durai Raj D. Junior Research Fellow, Projects – CSIR – Histopathology Lab. Dr. Anuradha, Principal, Elite School of Optometry, gave the welcome address and introduced Sri Ganesh Sharmaji. Dr. Girish Shiva Rao presented the honoured chief guest with a silk shawl.
Sri Ganesh Sharma shared anecdotes from Sri Mahaperiyava’s life that illuminated the holy saint’s selfless, sage insights into human nature and inspired everyone who listened. Dr. Sripriya Krishnamurthy, Director, General Ophthalmology, gave the closing speech thanking Sri Ganesha Sharmaji for his moving and insightful discourse on Sri Maha Perivaya’s life and his philosophies. Sri Mahaperiyava’s wisdom was such that he was able to offer advice to individuals from all walks of life.
After the moving discourse ended, Dr. Angayarkanni gave the closing speech and everyone offered flowers to Sri Maha Periyava and paid their respects at the end of the ceremony.
Sankara Nethralaya celebrates World Diabetes Day
SN celebrates World Diabetes Day (WDD) on November 14th
This year we conducted a camp for people with diabetes who were hospitalized for COVID 19 infection. The theme of WDD this year was to improve the access of care to people with diabetes.
There is evidence that patients with diabetes who additionally were hospitalised for Covid showed higher progression in diabetic retinopathy. This could be due to many reasons such as ischemia experienced in Covid or due to lack of access to eye care during lockdown and fear of stepping out to get eye care assessment done. Close to 600 patients were called on 14th November 2021 to the main branch for assessment. This was done over 2 weeks with the help of the Communication department and Diabetic retinopathy team who called eligible patients and gave appointments.
A battery of tests that included ocular and Covid history, vision assessment, ocular biomicroscopy and applanation tonometry. Following this the patients were dilated with mydriatic drop, fundus photograph was taken, their HbA1c was assessed with one prick test. Dilated fundus evaluation was planned to be done by an ophthalmologist.
Based on the diagnosis, the patients were given counselling and advice by dietician on controlling blood sugar levels. Additionally, this year special yoga which included breath control and simple yoga exercises were included.
Unfortunately, due to heavy rainfall and water lodging in many areas of Chennai, many elderly patients could not report on the specified date. Of the patients who reported, 68% patients had no diabetic retinopathy, 24% had diabetic retinopathy but showed no progression and 16% of patients who had progression were referred for additional investigations and treatment.
Besides this initiative, Dr Rajiv Raman wrote an article in “Hindu” a leading newspaper in Tamilnadu explaining Frequently Asked Questions on Diabetic retinopathy.
In addition, an article with input of Dr RRN on Diabetic Retinopathy written by Mr A P Irungovel, Manager- Medical Sociology was published in the Famous Tamil Weekly Kalki.
Infection Control Awareness Program at SN Kolkata
Infection Prevention and Control is one of the most important issues in the health care setting at present. To spread awareness about this important issue, a novel Infection Control Awareness Program (ICAP) was conducted at the Sankara Nethralaya Kolkata centers of SNK, Mukundpur and Rajarhat from 8th to 13th November 2021.
ICAP consisted of interesting talks on different topics like Hand hygiene, Prevention of Needle stick injury, Use of PPE, Biomedical waste Management and Hospital disinfection and cleaning, along with demonstrations and online quiz, which was an extraordinary success.
The huge participation by the hospital employees in the Q & A sessions, quiz, poster and slogan competitions made the program more so exciting.
We thank everyone involved for their invaluable contributions to the success of this ICAP 2021 at SNK.
Sankara Nethralaya’s Newark Delaware Chapter is a grand success.
For 2 weekends in September, the Sankara Nethralaya name resonated across the Delaware Indian population. Sankara Nethralaya Trustees Piram Manickavasagam and Ravi Maraka worked hand in hand with Smt. Indhumadhi Gopalakrishnan, artistic director of Salangai School of Performing arts and hosted this grand kickoff event for Sankara Nethralaya Delaware Chapter.
It was a unique and bold move by Salangai School of Performing arts to have their annual event as a virtual event. 75 performers participated in this event which had a reach of more than 3000 people on Facebook and helped to raise significant donations.
Sankara Nethralaya President Emeritus S.V Acharya addressed the audience before the Bharathanatyam program and noted about Sankara Nethralaya fundraiser events, how they leveraged mobile eye surgical units and thanked Salangai School of Performing arts students and Guru. He thanked Indhumadhi Gopalakrishnan for hosting the event for a noble cause.
Right after the address magic behind the classical art form began to unfold one after the other. It was a treat to watch the kids in traditional Indian classical dance costumes perform for vibrant and beautiful choreography. It is also noteworthy to mention some of the performers were first timers and they have been learning the dance only through virtual sessions and with just a couple of in person practice sessions the kids were able to perform in this grand event.
Senior students Adithi Jonnagadla, Praharshitha Nagraj, Pooja Guduguntala and Sreenidhi Das gave a solo performance. Priya Jeyakumar, past student of Salangai School who completed her arrangetram in 2019 also gave a solo performance in this event. Their passion, hard work and discipline in learning the classical dance for several years showed up in their performances.
Final day of performance included a dance presentation on Lord Krishna by Guru Indhumadhi Gopalakrishnan and her son and disciple Akshath Piram and Yashwath Piram. This section had 4 songs in three different languages – Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.
First performance of this section stole most people’s hearts in which a 3 year old boy (little Krishna) entered the scene dancing along with his mom with cute moves and mischievous smile. Next performance was for a song Aadithano Ranga which aptly captured the episode of clash between Serpent King Kalinga and Lord Krishna followed by a Varnam depicting Krishna and Sudama friendship and Gajendra Moksham tales. ‘Varnam’ is considered a difficult piece in Bharathanatyam and Akshath Piram performing a Varnam at 10 year old with at most perfection received raving reviews.
Final performance of the event was a riveting dance performance by mother son duo – Guru Indhumadhi Gopalakrishnan and her son Akshath Piram for a Mahabaratha Sabdam. Mahabaratha Sabdam portrayed one of the most iconic scenes, in which Yudhishthira rolls away his possessions, his kingdom, his brothers, and even his own freedom, though Krishna’s protection saves his wife from total humiliation. This is the most intense scene in Mahabaratham and to do justice to this scene is a challenging task. But the duo completely transformed themselves into their characters and gave a powerful performance that sure did touch viewer’s emotions and won their hearts.
The event concluded with a Thank you note in which Salangai School director thanked all participants and their parents, Guru’s Legend Mudurai R Muralidharan, Guru Dr. Ratheesh Babu and Guru Smt. Supriya Ravikumar and all friends and families who supported the event.
President Bala Reddy Indurti, Vice President Moorthy Rekapalli, Secretary Srinivas Ganagoni thanked all the Trustees and Volunteers who are working selflessly to restore vision for indigent patients.
Bala Indurti worked with local trustees Piram Manickavasagam and Ravi Maraka to launch the Newark Delaware Chapter. Thanks are due to Board of Trustees Shankar Setty and Dr. Raj Modi from nearby states for their unconditional support. Thanks are due to Board of Trustee Shyam Appali, Theagarajan for making video and flyers to the event.
Thanks are due to media partners SakshiTV, manaTV, TVAsia, TV5, GNN, US1, and Tori for promoting Sankara Nethralaya activities.
During the pandemic we have conducted the following virtual events to bring the awareness and help the indigent blind patients.
- Nataraja Natyanjali’s 100 days of kuchipudi dance programs
- A Jagannathan Memorial Series of concerts for one year
- Satadina Swararchana semi classical music programs
- Jay Kannan concert
- Natyothsava
Sankara Nethralaya is one of the 4 best ophthalmic institutions and one of the 100 best hospitals in the World per Newsweek. Sankara Nethralaya OM (Ophthalmic Mission) Trust is based in USA and has received the highest rating of four stars by charity navigator for maintaining the transparency for funds donated by donors and how they are utilized towards a noble cause.
To read the article on Great Andhra.com, please click here:- https://www.greatandhra.com/articles/special-articles/sankara-nethralayas-delaware-chapter-is-a-grand-success-116697
A Smart Move by Sankara Nethralaya and Vision-Aid
Sankara Nethralaya and Vision-Aid, an international NGO that works for the welfare of the visually impaired, are long-term partners, collaborating on various vision rehabilitation programs including running the Vision Enhancement Clinic (VEC) at Sankara Nethralaya’s Shenoy Nagar campus. In partnership with the India-based NGO Trees for Life India, Vision-Aid gave away 10 smartphones to visually impaired patients of the Low Vision Care Clinic (LVC) and VEC at Sankara Nethralaya main campus in Chennai on Oct 28th 2021.
In the first phase of a much larger rollout, ten visually impaired deserving patients of the LVC and the VEC were given smartphones in a small event. The phone distribution event was a closed group event in accordance with the continuing guidelines against the COVID19 pandemic. The event also serves to encourage optometrists and rehabilitation specialists with knowledge of the latest smartphone apps.
Dr. Girish S. Rao, President, Dr. T. S. Surendran, Vice- Chairman, Dr. Pramod Bhende, Director of Vitreo-Retina Services, Dr B Shantha, Senior Consultant – Glaucoma Services, Mr. V. L. Narasimhan and Mr. Vijay Francis from Vision-Aid, India attended the ceremony.
An intensive training schedule jointly conducted by Sankara Nethralaya and Vision-Aid to assist the beneficiaries will follow this event. The training schedule aims at teaching the beneficiaries to use the smart phones and assistive mobile apps efficiently to overcome the daily challenges of the visually challenged.
Though there are many sophisticated mobile apps freely available for modern smartphones, few are aware of their existence and know how to use them to improve their day-to-day living.
Smart phone companies have poured a lot of money into creating very powerful technology in today’s smart phones, such as AI-based apps that help blind users see objects around them, navigation apps that help the visually challenged to navigate safely, and learning apps that connect to a range of digital resources for learning and education. Through such apps, smart phones can become like constant, personal companions, helping to enable, educate and empower the blind and visually impaired to live with independence and dignity.
Ophthalmologists from Sankara Nethralaya attend 68th TNOA Annual Conference
Madras ICON 2021, the 68th annual conference of Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association (TNOA) was a first-of-its-kind, a hybrid conference (2 days virtual and one day physical participation). The event was held over 3 days and was attended by our elite consultants from varied ophthalmic sub-specialities.
- Dr. T. S. Surendran was the Chairman of the Paediatric Ophthalmology Session and spoke on “Overview of Strabismus.” The co-chairperson was Dr. S. Meenakshi, with Dr. Kavitha Kalaivani as the moderator. Dr. T. S. Surendran spoke on the topic: “Let us make it straight, Can we? – Tailored approach to strabismus management.” Dr. Meenakshi Swaminathan spoke on the topic: “Shaky eyes – what can we treat in nystagmus.” Dr. Kavitha Kalaivani spoke on the topics: “What’s next after cataract surgeries- end is not the end” and “Interesting cases.”
- The free paper titled “Clinical features and outcomes of pediatric traumatic cranial nerve palsies (FP 446)” presented by Dr Akshya. P (Dr AYP ) and coauthored by Dr. Muthumeena Muthumalai (Dr MMI) was adjudged as the First Runner-Up among free papers in Pediatric Ophthalmology in TNOA.
- Dr. Vineet Ratra performed a cataract surgery live as part of the “Challenging scenarios in cataract surgery” – video symposium.
- Dr. Sonam Nisar spoke on the topic: “Advances in Oculoplasty: Do all Mucor need exenteration: indications and surgical steps” as part of the Advances in Oculoplasty session.
- Dr. Rama Rajagopal was the co-chairman of the Cornea symposium and also spoke on the topic: “Ocular surface tumours.”
- Dr. Meena Lakshmipathy spoke on the topic, “Infectious keratitis – taming the tide” and Dr. Sudhir R. R. spoke on the topic of “Managing post PRK haze.”
- Dr. L. VIjaya was the chairperson of the Glaucoma symposium and delivered a talk on “Role of lens in glaucoma-yes clear lens extraction an option and Dr. Ronnie George spoke on “Glaucoma medication – start early lower fewer better.”
- Dr. Jyotirmay Biswas was the chairperson of the Uvea symposium and gave a talk on Uveitis search for the cause. He also chaired a session on Journal and gave keynote address on “Uveitis Research and publications – My journey and way forward”. He delivered a talk “Practical pearls in Uveitis” in the virtual session titled “Uveitic pearls from the bosses.” Dr Sudharshan was the moderator of the virtual session.
- Dr. Sudharshan S moderated the in-person session titled “Uvea – Utopia.” He also spoke on the topic: “Pattern recognition in uveitis.”
- Dr. Parthopratim Dutta Majumder spoke on the topic: “Beyond Steroids.”
- Dr. Vidhya Dharani D. M. gave a talk on the topic, “Sudden Vision Loss,” which was part of Neuro-Ophthalmology Nuggets Symposium.
- Dr. Pramod Bhende was part of the organising team for Retina sessions and spoke on “Principles of management of pediatric retinal detachments” in “Surgical retina” session on 12th Sept. Dr. Muna Bhende was a part of the instruction course and spoke on “Atypical presentations of AMD and PCV”.
- In the Medical retina session – Current management updates, Dr. Rajiv Raman spoke on the topic: “Diabetic Macular Oedema” and Dr. Suganeswari Ganesan spoke on the topic: “Retinopathy of prematurity.”
The three-day conference was a first for TNOA as the hybrid conference with both virtual and physical participation had an impressive turnout. Around 800 ophthalmologists attended the conference virtually and another 200 doctors who attended the in-person sessions making this year’s conference a big success. Such hybrid conferences may be the future as suggested by the feedback.
Rainbow Children’s Hospital starts comprehensive pediatric ophthalmology services partnering with Sankara Nethralaya
Pediatric ophthalmology is now universally recognized as a specific sub-specialty. Ophthalmic care of children in this era is no longer something that general ophthalmologists do as an adjunct to their predominantly adult clinical practice. It is instead delivered in dedicated pediatric ophthalmology clinics run by teams with expertise in the care of children. Sankara Nethralaya has associated with Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Chennai to provide a highly specialized, niche and advanced eye care facility with expert diagnosis and treatment.
This facility was inaugurated by Dr. T. S. Surendran, Vice-Chairman and Director, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Sankara Nethralaya. The scope of services includes Retinopathy of Prematurity screening and management including anti-VEGF therapy, pediatric ophthalmological emergency and OPD services, refractory errors in children, squint, congenital cataract and tumors of the eye.
The pediatric ophthalmological out-patient clinic adds to the value of the already existing pediatric program run by Rainbow Children’s Hospital and is a one-of-a-kind comprehensive and unique facility in the city.
Honorable Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thiru M. K. Stalin Inaugurates SN R. A. Puram and SN JCOC
Sankara Nethralaya founded in 1978, by Dr. S. S. Badrinath, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, as a not-for-profit institution serving the community, has been the foremost symbol of Ophthalmology in India. Our institution completed 43 years of service to the community on 6th September 2021.
To our great happiness, Honourable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, Thiru M. K. Stalin, agreed to dedicate Sankara Nethralaya’s latest note-worthy projects to the nation. The dedication ceremony took place in a simple virtual program due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our 43rd Foundation Day celebrations on 6th September 2021 too were muted due to the pandemic. Esteemed Thiru M. K. Stalin inaugurated Sankara Nethralaya R A Puram and Sankara Nethralaya Jaslok Community Ophthalmic Center (JCOC) facilities at 9:00 am with the click of a button. Mr. G. Ramachandran, Honorary Secretary & Treasurer, Dr. Girish S. Rao, President, Medical Research Foundation, Dr. T. S. Surendran, Vice Chairman, and Mr. Suresh Kumar, General Manager, Operations were present to witness the auspicious occassion.
Dr. T. S. Surendran honoured the Chief Minister with a “Ponnadai” or silk shawl while Mr. G. Ramachandran presented a copy of Insight – an account of Sankara Nethralaya’s Passion for Compassion, to him. Dr. Girish S. Rao presented a cheque of Rs. 10 lakhs as a contribution to the Tamilnadu Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. This modest contribution was made in grateful acknowledgement of the unparalleled relief work conducted by the Honourable Chief Minister, M. K. Stalin and the Government of Tamilnadu during the Coronavirus pandemic
The Chief Minister was given a short presentation of both R. A. Puram and JCOC eye care facilities, and voiced his approval of the amenities provided for the underprivileged in the community.
Sankara Nethralaya JCOC is the dedicated community ophthalmic centre for the convenience of rural communities. This well-equipped facility provides world- class eye care to the indigent in the community and features 100 beds, expandable to 75 beds, with 8 operating theatres.
The SN R. A. Puram facility is spread out over 6,000 sqft, and is equipped with a state-of-the-art operation theatre (OT) equipped for advanced technology cataract surgery. The branch is an ambulatory care facility offering the same quality of service as our apex facility in a cosy setting to our patients closer to their homes in Raja Annamailapuram and Adyar.
Community Activities of the Elite School of Optometry
A Comprehensive Eye Screening for people in Old age home
Screening camps for adults generally concentrate on checking vision and a preliminary assessment for cataract. But GOOD study (Geriatric Outreach and Ocular Diagnosis) ensures that the comprehensive evaluation provided inside the hospital premises is available at the old age homes. The first Home that was covered under this project was Sri Sathya Narayana Charitable Trust, Nanmangalam, conducted on the 15th of August 2021.
The services included:
a) A detailed history of the patient’s ocular and systemic conditions
b) Screening and testing for refractive errors (Need for spectacles)
c) Screening for other ocular problems like cataract, Conjunctival and corneal degenerations
d) Screening for the “Silent killers of sight” – glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy
Other Activities
- Screening for general health conditions
- Questionnaire on cognitive assessment and visual function assessment
- Fun activities with the inmates
Report on the screening:
Total Number of People Screened – 43
Number of Given Spectacles – 14
Number of Referrals – 16
Cataract – 6
Cornea – 1
Glaucoma – 2
Oculoplasty – 0
Posterior Capsular Opacity – 2
Retina – 3
Squint – 0
Neuro – 1
Rehabilitation – 1
SNEHAM: (Sankara Nethralaya Eye Hospital Anjali to Mahatma)
SNEHAM is a special community project aimed at the villages of Thiruvannamalai. This unique project was started in 2020 commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma. Comprehensive vision screening for three villages in Thiruvannamali district included the provision of free spectacles, surgical services and other specialty services to the villagers. Highlight of the camp included provision of services by stationing in every village for 3-4 days, in person distribution of spectacles, and choice of surgical services either at Chennai or our secondary centre, Suraj Sankara Nethralaya at Thiruvannamalai.
Elite School of Optometry / Sankara Nethralaya Highlights Activities from June 2021 to August 2021
M. Optom Batch 2019 – Placement details
Elite School of Optometry, (ESO) since its inception in 1985 has consistently produced graduates who meet the global standards in the field of Optometry with 100% job placement. The institute offers Master of Optometry (M. Optom.), a research-intensive two-year degree program in collaboration With SASTRA, Deemed-to-be-University. ESO stands as a role model in the domains of academics, research, and community work in the field of Optometry and continues to provide world class optometrists for service to the country. Till date, 708 students have graduated with Bachelor’s degrees, 122 with Master’s degrees and 10 have obtained Doctorate in Philosophy from ESO.
The scope of optometry is enormous. It includes clinical role at hospitals in the outpatient clinics, diagnostic services, and in speciality clinics in the following domains such as Dispensing Opticals, Contact Lens clinic, Binocular Vision clinic, Low Vision Care clinic, Myopia clinic, Neuro Optometry Rehabilitation clinic, Special Children vision clinic, Ocular Prosthesis clinic, and Community Outreach and Occupational Optometry services. Optometrists also play a key role as researchers, academicians, administrators, private practitioners and entrepreneurs.
This year too, ten graduates from ESO in collaboration with SASTRA Deemed to be University have passed out with flying colours from the M Optom program. They have acquired unique roles as lecturers at Elite school of Optometry, clinical and research optometrists at Sankara Nethralaya and pursuant of doctoral studies (details are given below). We congratulate them and wish the best for their future endeavours!
World Class Research Projects by Elite School of Optometry
The first batch of students of the Master of Optometry (M. Optom.), a two year program, completed their final defense on 18th and 19th of June 2021. The areas of their research work were diverse, including myopia, health economics, and diagnostics in retinal conditions: glaucoma, cerebral visual impairment, contact lenses, uveitis in tuberculosis and sports vision.
Experts from the fields were invited as external examiners for their final examination. Experts unanimously agreed that the students did excellent work amidst the grueling pandemic. Dr. Padmaja Sankaridurg from the Brien Holden Vision Institute and University of New South Wales, Dr Aparna Raghuram from the Harvard Medical School & Boston Children Hospital, Dr Ahalya Subramaniam from the City University of London, Dr Arun kumar from the Scheie University Pennsylvania, and Dr Abrez Hussain from the Vision Eye Institute, Australia, were the examiners. They appreciated the extensive research work of the students and guides, and ESO’s world class quality of research.
The details of the research projects are:
R. Aishwarya
Screening for cerebral visual impairment in children reporting to the pediatric ophthalmology
Akshaya C Balakrishnan
Vault-Aberration-Vision relationship in Boston Scleral Contact Lens
Amirthaa M
Near Induced Transient Myopia (NITM) parameters after reading with mobile phone compared to printed text among school children
Jannet Philip
Development Of A Tele Rehabilitation Model in children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI): A Pilot study
Karthika P
Structural and functional changes among diabetics with no diabetic retinopathy and mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy using Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
and Photopic Negative Response
Kowsigan
Swept- source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Analysis of Tubercular Serpiginous Like Choroiditis-A Prospective Study
Maanasi M
Assessing the features of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy in Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.
Mehal Prasanpal Rathore
Diagnostic ability of OCT Angiography and its application in the assessment of ocular blood flow in patients with Glaucoma and age-matched normal subjects in an Indian Sample
Robin S
Development and validation of KAP questionnaire among cricketers
Swetha S
Cost Analysis of Sankara Nethralaya School children Eye Examination Study (SN-SEES)
BACHELOR OF OPTOMETRY – FINAL YEAR EVALUATION
Elite school of Optometry in collaboration With SASTRA Deemed-to-be University offers Bachelor of Optometry, a four year undergraduate optometry degree program. The first batch of students from this degree program have completed their final exams and expected to graduate this year. Detailed evaluation components included performance for independent OPD cases, speciality clinics, diagnostic clinics, Viva voce and an all subject theory examination apart from the continuous assessments.
Despite the COVID 19 pandemic, students of this batch were appreciated for their efforts and preparation towards the exam and all the evaluators gave good feedback on their performance.
Speciality Clinics
OSPE – OSCE (Diagnostics Interpretation)
VIVA VOCE
