Iowa City should be a mecca for those seeking help for eye problems peculiar to Scandinavian, Scottish, and Dutch descendants. Our readers from Grand Rapids and Holland, Michigan, as well as Lake Wobegon, should listen up.Dr. Sohan Hayreh at the University of Iowa is not only world-famous but has probably seen more rare retinal vascular problems than any other living ophthalmolgist.

After studying in Punjab, India, he practiced in London, where he didn't see pseudo-exfoliation of the lens. Then he went to Scotland, where he saw patients with the eye condition. He also saw his future Scottish wife, whom he married at age 44 in Scotland. He was then invited to the University of Iowa, where he has practiced for 17 years.

If your ophthalmologist treats primarily Spanish, French, English, Italian, and other folks of Southern European descent, don't expect him or her to see many cases of pseudo-exfoliated lens, a marker for glaucoma. This marker is rare in African-Americans as well.

Why is the pseudo-exfoliated lens important? Because it gives an alert ophthalmologist a warning to investigate the family history of that patient for an insidious hereditary glaucoma.

I became fascinated with the wealth of knowledge that I found in Dr. Hayreh's office at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology. His life work is a treasure trove of case histories and innovative discoveries. He identifies phenomena and gives them names that later appear in textbooks.

Our investigations of age-related eye problems were cut short, however, when a travel advisory predicted an old-fashioned Iowa blizzard. We scheduled a return visit in May and hurried from Iowa City to the Cedar Rapids airport.

We advise those who want to meet this giant in the field of vascular disorders and particularly the retina to plan a visit to Iowa in May. That's when Dr. Hayreh returns from his world travels; and tourists flock to Pella, Iowa, to see the beautiful tulips. People of Dutch descent have more than one reason to check out Iowa in the springtime.