Retina expertise is a critical component of comprehensive eye care, as a wide variety of vitreoretinal conditions can significantly impact patients’ vision and thus their quality of life.
With several recent additions to the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, high-quality vitreoretinal care is now more readily available for UTMB patients. Two new team members, Mehreen Adhi, MD, and Mohamed Soliman, MD, specialize in the treatment of vitreoretinal conditions in adult patients.
Dr. Adhi is a brand-new addition to UTMB, having joined the team this summer from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, where she worked as a vitreoretinal specialist. She is looking forward to helping expand UTMB’s capacity to care for patients with various vitreoretinal conditions.
“Typically, a patient will see an optometrist and/or a general ophthalmologist first, and if there's anything going on in the retina that needs medical or surgical evaluation and management, then they are referred to me,” Dr. Adhi says.
Dr. Adhi sees the full spectrum of vitreoretinal conditions, with a special interest in diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and retinal vascular diseases. She also performs surgeries for various vitreoretinal conditions, including retinal detachments, macular hole, and epiretinal membrane, to name a few.
Dr. Soliman is a familiar face to UTMB patients, having practiced pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus surgery at UTMB for many years before pursuing further training to expand his clinical practice. He has completed a Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship at the University of California Irvine Medical Center.
Although he may still see some of his established pediatric patients and assist with select pediatric cases as needed, his primary focus on surgical retina means the majority of his patients will be adults.
“Although there are pediatric retinal conditions that would require medical or surgical management, the great majority of our retina clinic are adult patients since many retinal diseases are related to advancing age. This includes conditions like age-related macular degeneration, vascular occlusion, floaters, retinal tears, and many other conditions. The younger adults we see are usually the traumatic cases, diabetics, those with retinal detachments and those with inflammatory conditions,” Dr. Soliman says.
His main interests include management of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, epiretinal membranes, and vascular occlusions.
Dr. Soliman also performs surgery for dislocated intraocular lenses, which sometimes occur as a result of complicated cataract surgeries.
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness amongst working age adults in the United States. In patients with diabetic retinopathy, management of the disease is dependent on the stage at the initial diagnosis.
“If it is medically treatable diabetic retinopathy, it involves injections and lasers in the office setting. If there is bleeding, scarring and/or detachment of the retina, it usually requires surgical intervention to stabilize the disease process,” Dr. Adhi says.
By improving its capacity to address vitreoretinal diseases, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences advances in its mission to provide compassionate, excellent, comprehensive patient care across UTMB’s service region.
Both Dr. Adhi and Dr. Soliman see patients at the recently expanded Town Center clinic as well as in Galveston; Dr. Soliman also sees patients in Friendswood. The team’s other retina specialists are Dr. Touka Banaee, who sees patients in Galveston and Town Center, and Dr. Jaafar El-Annan, who sees patients at Town Center.
 |  | Mehreen Adhi, MD, and Mohamed Soliman, MD, see patients at the UTMB Health Eye Center locations in Galveston and Town Center. Dr. Soliman also sees patients in Friendswood. Learn more about Ophthalmology services at UTMB. |