EYE CARE Q

Dr. Gregory J. Panzo: There’s absolutely no doubt that each of our accomplished and well-trained surgeons and specialists brings a unique expertise to the Mid Florida Eye Center network. From participating in national clinic research studies to advanced eye surgery techniques, we strive to bring the latest technology and surgical options to members of our community who need them most.

Although technological advancements play a major role in what we do at Mid Florida Eye Center each day, just being able to improve both the quality of vision and life for our patients supersedes that seemingly never-ending quest for the newest piece of innovative technology.

Dr. Jeffrey D. Baumann: We’re constantly reviewing and adding new technology and surgical options to our practice in order to provide the most advanced eye care available to Central Florida.

We have been praised for building the first eye surgery center in the Lake County area in 1992 and owning and operating two, state-of-the-art surgery centers with our four offices—including our newest 8,900+ square foot space in Wildwood adjacent to The Villages® Community—offering an unmatched level of complete eye care for our patients.

For me, the fact that we provide all major eye specialties, including three cataract surgeons, two glaucoma specialists, two retina specialists, an oculoplastic surgeon, and two corneal specialists under one roof is revolutionary. Our practice is the only one in Central Florida where all our ophthalmologists have completed advanced fellowship training. But I am most proud of our practice restoring vision to hundreds of thousands of patients over the years. Our vision is clearly to make yours better.

WHAT IS AN INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGIST?

I am a Vascular and Interventional Radiologist. First I am a Radiologist, which is a medical doctor who is specialty trained to interpret MRI, CT , X-Ray and Ultrasound and other types of imaging so your doctor will know how to best provide treatment for you. I am also surgically trained to perform procedures inside the body using the guidance of those imaging machines to see inside you, so that you are not cut open and you do not have to endure lengthy healing times from large wounds and stitches. I use very fine needles, catheters and wires to repair damage and oftentimes even place devices inside your body to help you heal. I can provide therapeutic treatments in bones and vessels, as well as organs.

I went through both college and medical school, one year of surgery internship, four years of radiology residency training, and another year of Vascular and Interventional training. I am board certified in both Diagnostic, as well as Vascular and Interventional Radiology. I completed my Interventional training mentoring under one of the pioneers in the field, Mark Wholey, at the Pittsburgh Vascular Institute in Pittsbugh, PA.

Although Interventional Radiology, or IR, began to emerge and transition itself from a diagnostic ra- diology specialty to a therapeutic one over 30 years ago, the concept is still quite new to some doctors and patients. This is because it has only recently taken a leap outside hospitals, where IRs originally focused their practice. In the 1950’s, IRs began opening blocked blood vessels by introducing catheters into the vascular system to repair damaged arteries, prior to which surgeons performed high risk open surgeries, often with poor outcomes. These Interventional techniques became so well established in hospitals (being performed only by Interventional Radiologists) that over the next few decades IRs continued to invent hundreds of additional procedures, rapidly proving that noninvasive techniques are safer, offering faster healing times, which provide better outcomes than traditional surgery. Some of the specialties which ridiculed IR initially, are now adopting and performing some of these procedures themselves.

When I am asked what I can do, my response often is “What Can’t I do for my patients?”, since hundreds of procedures have been invented by my specialty. Within my State-Certified Center, I only do what is safe outside a hospital, and only for those who are suitable candidates and most likely to have a favorable outcome. Angioplasty, spine fracture repairs, port and picc-line placements, chest tubes, drainages of lungs and abdomens, biopsies, catheter placements, lumbar punctures and myelograms, uterine fibroid embolization, microwave and RF ablation of tumors, epidurals and joint injections for pain, pseudoaneurysm repair, sacral fracture repairs, hysterosalpingograms, IVC filter placement and removal, as well as diagnostic imaging such as MRI,MRA,CT,CTA, X-Ray and ultrasound are among the vast array of what we can do for you at Medical Imaging & Therapeutics, referred to as MIT, Center for Vascular and Interventional Radiology in Lady Lake.

MIT has been recognized for its excellence in patient satisfaction and outcomes, and chosen as a training center for teaching new IRs from the University of Florida School of Medicine.

HEALTH

DR. JEFFREY GLOVER ASK