Talking to Dr Alberto Lozano

12/06/2026

Dr Alberto Lozano graduated in Medicine from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2007 and completed his specialisation in Ophthalmology at Barraquer in 2013. He has worked in several hospitals and occupational health mutual insurance organisations, where he has also coordinated ophthalmology services. His career combines clinical and surgical activity, as well as the care of ocular injuries. In 2022, he joined the medical team at the Barraquer Ophthalmology Centre, focusing his activity on glaucoma and cataracts.

What led you to study Medicine and specialise in Ophthalmology?

A dedication to care and a family background of doctors and healthcare professionals. Ophthalmology is a wonderful specialty because of its combination of consultations, constantly evolving microsurgery and the treatment of sight, a sense that is vital to our relationship with the world.

How do you remember your training period as a resident at the Barraquer Ophthalmology Centre?

It was a difficult time, because of the intensity and dedication it requires, but also an exciting one because of the great professionals I trained with, how welcomed I felt and the support of my partner. Those first years were about discovering what ophthalmology was all about, with the support of my senior residents; then gradually mastering the first surgeries and gaining independence, until the final year, when you feel the vertigo of being the senior resident, the person others come to with their questions, and you realise how much knowledge you have acquired.

What do you think differentiates ophthalmology today from when you started?

Deep down, it has not changed. Listening to the patient, understanding their needs and offering solutions when they exist, or support when they are not possible. Of course, our specialty is constantly improving, which allows us to treat problems more easily or with better results than before, but the basic process remains essentially the reason why machines have not yet replaced us.

What is your day-to-day work like? What do you like most about your profession?

I spend most of my time in consultation, explaining everything from presbyopia to the physiopathology of glaucoma, adapting glasses, treatments or surgical indications to each particular case, which means that every patient is different. But I love laser procedures and surgery. There is nothing comparable to a surgical theatre session with a great team and music playing.

For many patients, glaucoma is a silent disease. How would you explain it in simple terms?

Glaucoma is defined as damage to the optic nerve, which carries information from the retina to the brain, caused by excessive eye pressure. This means that the nerve fibres gradually suffer and are progressively lost. The thing is that the optic nerve is very resilient and can sustain damage for some time without the visual field being affected, meaning patients do not notice anything until the loss is very advanced. That is why check-ups with an ophthalmologist are so important, especially if there is a family history.

What signs or symptoms should alert a patient and prompt an urgent consultation?

When we are talking about open-angle glaucoma, any reduction in the field of vision should be analysed as soon as possible. The real emergency, however, is acute angle-closure glaucoma, where a few hours more or less can mean a major loss of visual function. In this latter case, an acute attack presents as orbital or one-sided head pain, like a very severe migraine that does not improve with standard painkillers, with blurred or rainbow-coloured vision, and sometimes even nausea and/or vomiting. This means that many patients go to general emergency departments, where ophthalmological care is delayed until neurological causes have been ruled out. Above all, it is important to have check-ups to prevent it in hypermetropic patients, through gonioscopy or other tests, as they may be at risk of this type of glaucoma.

Do you think the population is sufficiently informed about the most common eye conditions?

Certainly not, as is the case with so many other things in healthcare. That is why I believe it is important to take the time in consultation to explain clearly and understandably, but also precisely, the different presentations of a red eye, migraine, dry eye, refractive errors — myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, astigmatism... — and to share information from reliable sources, in order to make knowledge more accessible to people in the face of so much misleading or directly malicious information, particularly on social media.

Cataract surgery is one of the most common procedures. What makes it so safe today?

Small-incision surgery with foldable lenses, increasingly low ultrasound energy and minimal surgical time, performed as an outpatient procedure and with the minimum anaesthesia required, allows for a much faster recovery with less discomfort than even just a few years ago. Of course, every case is different, and the response of each eye — even in the same patient — can vary, but good preoperative information and assessment also contribute to satisfactory results and a low chance of complications. But when complications do occur, inevitably, the surgeon’s experience and the resources of the centre help ensure they are resolved in the best possible way.

How do you keep up to date in a field that evolves so quickly?

Through constant communication and sharing of experience between colleagues, both within the centre and at congresses and in scientific communications, as well as the work carried out by the industry, but always with the critical eye of experience in the face of biases and “the latest great innovation”, which may not be quite so groundbreaking. Of course, it requires constant dedication, but it is necessary in order to offer the best care.

With such an absorbing job, what do you do to switch off?

I have my children, who certainly do not give me even a moment’s respite to think after the working day. But I also have my salsa and bachata classes, which my surgical team and my patients suffer through, as they have to listen to that music during my surgeries.