Family Eye Care Through The Years

Dr. Peter Menger is pictured at his Glendale office, reviewing the results of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan. Use of the desktop machine that produced the images is just one of the ways that eye exams have changed over the years. (photo: Bill Mitchell) The countdown has already begun and while plans do not call for the dropping of a symbolic ball, launching of rockets or igniting of fireworks, this centennial celebration will be something worth seeing—like any other day at Menger Eye Centers.

“It’s just something that we’re proud of and we would like the community to be aware of it,” said Dr. Peter L. Menger, who represents the third physician in a three-generation chain of doctors tending to residents of the local area.

Next January will mark the 100th anniversary of Menger doctors providing the most modern eye care available to their patients.

Dr. Louis C. Menger, the first in a three-generation line of doctors, is shown (at right) on his way to a horse-drawn ambulance for German Hospital (now known as Wyckoff Heights Medical Center). The two offices of Menger Eye Centers are located at 78-09 Myrtle Ave. in Glendale and 923 Hempstead Tpke. in Franklin Square.

“The Glendale area has been very loyal to us and we are pleased to be here,” Dr. Menger told a recent visitor to the Myrtle Avenue office. “I enjoy the fact that I have seen members of families who were treated by my father and grandfather.” to the family’s tradition of eye care. In Glendale—where the full slate of services also includes the availability of eyewear—Dr. Menger has charted about 6,000 patients per year.

Began in Brooklyn

The line of succession started with the late Dr. Louis C. Menger, who graduated from Long Island College Hospital in 1910. As noted by his grandson, Dr. Louis C. Menger specialized in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat in Brooklyn until 1948.

Dr. Louis C. Menger A brochure that discusses the history of Menger eye care states that during his years in practice, Dr. Louis C. Menger pursued post-graduate training at Bellevue Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Harold C. Menger followed in his father’s footsteps, though in a reversal of geographic order. After completing his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania, he received his Medical Degree from the Long Island College of Medicine in 1947.

Dr. Harold C. Menger completed his residency in eye, ear, nose and throat at New York Polyclinic Hospital and Medical School in Manhattan. Following the residency, he pursued his father’s specialty, which led him to practice in Brooklyn and Queens starting in 1951.

Dr. Harold C. Menger Now retired, he resides in Kew Gardens—the neighborhood where he had maintained a practice, before relocating in Glendale.

The Menger Eye Centers brochure notes that Dr. Peter Menger, a board-certified ophthalmologist, became the third generation in his family to graduate from the same medical school, completing his M.D. from SUNY Downstate Medical School (the former Long Island College of Medicine) in 1984.

He interned at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. and served his residency from 1985 to 1988 at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, where he was chief resident and earned the Eye Surgeon’s Director’s Award in 1988.

Technology boosts exams

Being at the forefront of advances in methods and technology has been a characteristic of Menger eye care.

Dr. Peter L. Menger In speaking with his visitor, Dr. Menger was quick to note that new technological breakthroughs have produced some important diagnostic tools.

One snared the visitor’s attention as he sat in an examination room. On the wall was an eye chart for the modern age—a computer monitor’s screen.

But in addition to the eye chart, with letters that can be scrambled to discourage a would-be cheater’s attempt at memorization, the screen can also display programs—such as animated images of ducks—that would appeal to a child.

“It’s actually a fixation target, so that the children can focus on something,” Dr. Menger explained.

As a youngster’s eyes lock on the images, as though watching television, it makes it easier for the doctor to perform a proper exam.

Besides ducks, the screen can show such other “targets” as balloons in movement, classic Superman cartoons or even a school of fish (“anchovies”) swimming against a calm-inducing musical soundtrack.

“It’s very soothing,” Dr. Menger said, and his visitor agreed.

High-tech scans show much

In another room, the doctor showed his visitor the desktop machine that is used in the diagnostic process called optical coherence tomography (OCT).

“The OCT is a device that can actually take a veritable slice through the eye,” Dr, Menger said. “With it’s computer-generated power, you can actually look at the surface of the retina and diagnose quite a number of diseases.”

After the doctor powered up the machine, he displayed some examples, including images of the back of an eye.

To accomplish this, the patient simply sits and looks at a fixation light, while a series of pictures—ones that can be viewed in 3-D—are taken.

The results were an amazing sight, shown on the computer screen.

“These are actually a cross-section of the retina’s layers,” the doctor pointed out, as he and the visitor watched the images appear on the screen. “You can look for diabetic changes—macular degeneration and leakage of blood vessels. You can look very specifically at the surface of the retina in the back of the eye.”

Dr. Menger added that this capability proves especially valuable in examing glaucoma patients.

Diabetes and glaucoma

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), people with diabetes are 40 percent more likely to suffer from glaucoma than people without diabetes. Risk also increases with age.

The ADA notes that glaucoma occurs due to a build-up of pressure in the eye which pinches the blood vessels that carry blood to the retina and optic nerve. Over time, vision is lost because of damage to the retna and optic nerve.

By using the OCT, Dr. Menger said, “you can actually measure the amount of nerve tissue that’s been damaged by glaucoma.”

Added benefits to OCT use

In a subsequent effort to learn more about the device, the doctor’s guest found that its use has yielded results regarding more than eye problems.

A 2007 John Hopkins-based study showed that the five-minute eye exam using OCT might be an inexpensive and effective way to gauge and track multiple sclerosis, the debilitating neurological disease that reportedly affects about 400,000 people in the U.S.

Multiple Sclerosis is marked by an abnormal immune system that attacks and kills a person’s own brain cells, as is noted on the website ScienceDaily. com.

It also states that as the neurons die, the volume of the brain decreases. For this reason, an MRI of the brain to measure total volume has been regarded as the primary tool to monitor MS.

However, John Hopkins neurologist Dr. Peter Calabresi, the lead author of the study, called the MRI an “imperfect tool,” since it does not measure specifically nerve damage itself.

According to the neurologist, OCT scans take roughly one-tenth as long and cost one-tenth as much as the MRI.

Leaves Lasik to others

In discussing some of the various diagnostic tools and pieces of equipment at Menger Eye Centers, Dr. Menger mentioned that he had started doing Lasik surgery a few years ago when it was first introduced.

The technology involved in the procedure, which is used to reduce nearsightedness and may eliminate the need for glasses, has enjoyed rapid growth. Dr. Menger said that he has elected to refer such patients to other doctors who perform Lasik surgery exclusively.

“The technology that they have available to them would be better than what would be available to me,” he said.

“The results are phenomenal—the newer technology does better than the older technology. But it falls into the realm of correcting vision, as opposed to treating a disease.”

He added, “I prefer to focus on treating a disease.”

Dr. Menger has two laser machines that he uses to perform procedures on patients suffering from glaucoma or a vascular disease.

Cataract surgery without needles

Cataracts—a slowly-progressing clouding of the lens of the eye—account for the major portion of surgeries done by Dr. Menger. While there are many different techniques available, the one he employs is eye-drop anesthesia.

“We don’t use injections, we don’t use needles and we don’t use stitches in the eye,” the doctor said.

Instead, the patient undergoes a quick procedure that is followed by rapid healing—one more example of the advances that have been made.

“When I first started doing surgery in 1988, I would have had no concept of that kind of surgery,” he observed.

While Dr. Menger maintains his affiliation with Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital, which he called “sort of my home,” most of his surgical procedures take place at the Queens Surgi-Center on Woodhaven Boulevard, where he was the first doctor to perform an operation.

“Most of my patients find going into Manhattan difficult and it’s not necessary—we have the technology right here in Queens,” he said.

He also works at Winthrop University and North Shore University hospitals.

Dr. Menger remarked that cataracts represent a degenerative condition that “virtually everyone will get if they live long enough.”

In contrast, there are things that patients with diabetes can do—in particular, taking care to keep their blood sugar levels closer to normal— to try to avoid diabetes-related eye disorders.

“I enjoy an interaction with my patients and part of that is making them aware that with diabetes, they need to be in control—they need to take an active role in what goes on,” the doctor said. “You don’t have to eat cardboard and drink water for the rest of your life, but you need to be in control of your blood sugar and know what your numbers are.”

He added, “As much as I treat disease, I would rather prevent it.”

The next generation

Dr. Menger and his wife Virginia, who works with him in an administrative capacity, have two sons, Austin, who attended Chaminade High School, and Richard, in his third year at Georgetown Medical School—and soon to become the fourth generation Menger physician.

“He has not yet decided on his career path and I will put no influence on his choice of specialty,” said Dr. Peter Menger.

He added, “If he chooses ophthalmology or otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat) and wants to stay in New York, I’m sure I could find a spot for him in the office!”

For more information regarding Menger Eye Centers, call 1-718-386- 1818 in Glendale or 1-516-775-4551 in Franklin Square.