Dr. Herbert N. Fitterman is one of cataract surgery's trailblazers.
In the 1960s, he pioneered the use of the intraocular lens, bringing
the era of coke-bottle glasses to an end. In the 1970s, he was
one of the first ophthalmic surgeons to introduce the more stable
and efficient cataract removal technique of Phacoemulsifaction.
In the 1980s, he was an early adopter of multifocal intraocular
lenses, eliminating the need of cataract patients for reading
glasses. In the 1990s, he was among the first to use the foldable
intraocular lens, a lens that requires only the smallest of surgical
incisions and leads to a faster recovery. To date, Dr. Fitterman
has performed over 12,000 implant surgeries.
Dr. Fitterman has also been actively involved in refractive surgery since the early 1990s. He first studied Excimer laser surgery in Los Angeles at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in 1992. Since then, he has performed hundreds of laser surgeries to correct myopia and astigmatic errors. Dr. Fitterman continues to research and to be involved in the evolution of refractive laser surgery as an active participant in international PRK seminars and workshops.
It was Dr. Fitterman's determination to find the most effective
method to correct high myopia and hyperopia, coupled with his
vast experience with intraocular lens implants, that led to
his use of refractive intraocular lens implants. Here again
he is a trailblazer, one of the first doctors in Canada to begin
performing this type of refractive surgery.
In fact, KeraVision, the developers of the intacs intraocular
lens, chose Dr Fitterman to be one of the original ophthalmologists
trained in this type of vision correction. He has been successfully
doing this new non-laser procedure since March 1999.
In addition to his cataract and refractive surgery experience, Dr. Fitterman has had considerable corneal training and has been actively performing corneal transplants since 1962. He received his medical degree from the University of Manitoba and spent five years in post-graduate training before receiving his Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Canada) in 1962.
Dr. Fitterman is currently an Associate Clinical Professor in Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He has also been in private practise in Vancouver for over 30 years.
