We hope that you find our website informative and educational. Our practice is limited to the medical and surgical treatment of diseases of the retina, macula, and vitreous. Retina of Coastal Carolina is the only retina practice serving Wilmington, Jacksonville, and surrounding areas. Our doctors and staff are committed to providing the best retina care available. Retina of Coastal Carolina was founded in January 1997 by Dr. Igor Westra. Dr. Westra had been a practicing retinologist in the area for three and a half years prior to that. His desire was to form a retina only practice where patients could receive the most advanced treatments and therapies available without having to leave the area. Dr. Erik van Rens, also a retinologist, moved to Wilmington from Illinois to join the practice in June of 1998. By that time, Retina of Coastal Carolina had grown to three offices, Wilmington, NC, Jacksonville, NC and Little River, SC.

Dr. Westra and Dr. Van Rens are Board Certified and fellowship trained in vitreoretinal disease.

Retina of Coastal Carolina offers the latest in state of the art diagnostic equipment. OTI 3-D Ultrasound, Optical Coherence Tomography, and Digital Fluorescein and Indocynine Green Angiography allow our doctors to diagnose and treat many complicated retinal disorders.

Using advanced technology and techniques, we are able to offer our patients the latest advancements in vitreoretinal treatments, most of which are performed in the office. These include Photodynamic Therapy, Macugen, Transpupillary Thermotherapy and Pneumatic Hemopexy, as well as traditional treatments for Wet Macular Degeneration. We also treat Diabetic Retinopathy with Focal and Pan Retinal Laser treatments and drug therapies.   Retinal Tears, many Vitreoretinal Disorders and Diseases and some Retinal Detachments are also treatable in the office

When surgery is needed outside of the office, Drs. Westra and Van Rens operate at New Hanover Health Network, which is located 1 mile from our Wilmington office.

While it is impossible to cover every retinal disease and disorder, some of the problems that we treat are discussed in the Eye Disorders section