Meet a Doctor: Dean Cestari, M.D.
Completion of his medical training in New York made Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary neuro-ophthalmologist Dean Cestari one of only a handful of doctors in the country trained in both neurology and ophthalmology. It also made him a huge New York Yankees fan.
Dr. Cestari’s rigorous medical training includes residencies in neurology and ophthalmology at the Cornell University Medical College’s New York Presbyterian Hospital, as well as fellowship training in neuro-ophthalmology at Mass.Eye and Ear.Mass. Eye and Ear is a primary teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School in ophthalmology and is where many of today’s neuro-ophthalmologists have been trained. As a physician at the hospital, one of Dr. Cestari’s responsibilities is to train its ophthalmology residents.
“I love it when I see that an ophthalmology resident ‘gets it,’” says Dr. Cestari. “In neuro-ophthalmology, we often diagnose diseases that can be life-threatening. All of our residents may not choose neuro-ophthalmology as a subspecialty, but when residents complete training here, I’m confident they leave with the ability to take care of many patients with neuro-ophthalmic disorders, and to identify those patients with sight threatening disease who need to be further evaluated by a neuro-ophthalmologist. That’s a rewarding feeling,” says Dr. Cestari.
In addition to neuro-ophthalmology, Dr. Cestari’s foremost clinical interest is treating adult strabismus (crossed eye). Many patients come to him with neurological causes of double vision and he offers them treatment that includes prism therapy, Botox injections and strabismus surgery.
He is also busy on the research front. He and his colleagues would like to develop new medications and surgical implants that would lead to better treatment for patients who are experiencing vision loss. Dr. Cestari and his colleagues are interested in research into the cause of ischemic optic neuropathy (decreased blood flow to the nerve that brings vision from the eye to the brain) Damage from this condition can result in partial or total blindness. “Our goal,” he adds, “is to improve treatments and ultimately prevent patients from developing this condition.” Click here if you'd like to make a gift to support Dr. Cestari's research.
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