March 21, 2007
Ophthalmologist Peter Schwartz says
he’s always gotten along well with
children. After attending medical
school and receiving specialized training in
ophthalmology — the branch of medicine
concerned with the eyes and vision — he
took an extra year’s fellowship in pediatric
ophthalmology. And, it was his own young
child who partly inspired the family’s move
to Ithaca, an area he remembered well from
his undergraduate days at Cornell University.
Last year, he opened an office at 2333
North Triphammer Rd., (across from
Pyramid Mall), which has quickly become
a busy place. Although Schwartz is the only
pediatric ophthalmologist in Ithaca — there’s also one in Elmira and
another in Syracuse — he says most of his patients are adults, “because
that’s who tend to get more eye problems,” he explains. “So I provide
adult care such as diabetic eye care, glaucoma, cataract
surgery; and for children I draw upon my
specialty.”
Schwartz is a strong advocate of the
“party line” as explained by the American
Academy of Pediatrics and the American
Academy of Ophthalmology. It states that
all healthy children should have an eye
exam around the age of three. “At the age
of three, kids are old enough to read some
picture charts or symbol charts, but still
young enough that we can rectify some
problems that if left untreated could become
permanent,” Schwartz says.
Of course, some children need eye
care earlier, including those who come from families where everyone is
very nearsighted,
or children with cerebral palsy,
Down syndrome or systemic illness. “Or, if
parents are concerned,” he adds, “there’s
usually something there. Maybe a child
holds a book too close, or bumps into things.
Anytime you see something on the child that
bothers you, you should have it looked at.”
His youngest patients have been
premature newborns, who require special
monitoring in the first few months, because
babies in a super-oxygenated environment
are at risk for developing retinopathy.
For these smallest babies, Schwartz’s
examinations are targeted at watching the
blood vessels grow in, occasionally using
laser treatments to prevent bleeding and
retinal detachment.
“I have some very young patients, two to
three-months old,” Schwartz says. “I
see a lot of crossed eyes, crossing in or out
(strabismus); eyes that don’t move properly
together, sometimes associated with
amblyopia, where the brain never gets good visual stimulation from one or
both eyes. If
that happens, that part of the brain doesn’t
develop. If you missed that and the child is
seven or eight, even if you put the perfect
glasses on that child, the image sent back
to the brain is not interpreted and the child
still sees poorly. But it’s often correctable
with proper glasses and patching the
stronger eye.”
Slightly older infants may also have
problems, including congenital cataracts.
Very young children can’t tell him what
they’re seeing, but using a retina scope
— looking into a child’s dilated pupils
— Schwartz can gauge how well they see.
Some young children benefit from glasses
as toddlers. “We try to wait until they’re two
or three,” he says. “If it [the impairment] is
very strong, we’ll fit them at a young age. But
we don’t need to burden a three year old with
glasses if their vision is 20/40. They’re not
driving around and not going to school yet.”
Schwartz’s young patients may not yet
appreciate the state-of-the-
art technological
amenities of his brand
new office, but the
intentionally child-friendly
environment, including a
lot of toys, helps put them
at ease, as does what he
describes as his gentle,
pleasant approach to kids.
“Sometimes they cry when they have to
leave,” he quips.
He does surgery as well — on adults for
cataracts; on children for strabismus, eyelid
problems and trauma. “I take are of all ages
that have had bad things happen to their
eyes,” he says. In his practice in New York
City and the tri-State area, he frequently saw
patients with serious eye injuries, but “Life’s
a little calmer here, thankfully,” he notes.
Schwartz also has taken his skills on the
road for medical missions to the Dominican
Republic and the Philippines, treating
dozens of kids who’d waited all year for the
free clinic; often performing 12 surgeries a
day. Moving to Ithaca to open his practice
here, and the birth of his own child meant
taking the past two years off, but, “Once
things settle down, I hope to do this again,”
he says. “My wife is a nurse anesthetist
— we make a good team.”
Find out more about him on his Web site,
www.peterschwartzmd.com; or call (607)
266-7600.
--Karen Gadiel
Ithaca Times
Originally published March 21, 2007 in
The Ithaca Times
. 