Vision - Conductive Keratoplasty

Author

Conductive Keratoplasty

Pam Gasson

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

Hello
My last eyesight test showed I am +4 in my right eye and +6 in the
left.,
and at present wear night and day contact lenses. Does anybody know
if I would be suitable for conductive keratoplasty?
Thank you
--
Pam Gasson

Glenn - USAEyes.org

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

Pam,

No, you would not be an appropriate candidate for Conductive
Keratoplasty (CK) for hyperopia (farsighted, longsighted) of this
amount.

Your possible alternatives would be rather limited.

As a general rule, hyperopia is more difficult to correct than myopia
(nearsighted, shortsighted). High hyperopia is quite possibly the
most challenging refractive error to correct predictably without
inducing other problems.

The excimer laser assisted surgery techniques LASIK, IntraLASIK, PRK,
LASEK, and Epi-LASIK have significant difficulty with hyperopia of
this magnitude. I doubt you would find a competent surgeon who would
suggest that you would be able to attain plano (no refractive error)
with any of these techniques.

If you are under age 40 and are able to accommodate (change focus from
distant items to near) then you may want to investigate phakic
intraocular lenses (P-IOL). In the UK there are several different
P-IOLs. Whether or not the physiology of your eye would allow for a
P-IOL would need to be closely evaluated.

If you are over age 40 and have lost or are losing accommodation due
to presbyopia, then Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE) may be something to
consider. RLE is essentially cataract surgery for refractive
purposes. The natural lens of the eye is removed and an artificial
lens of a power to correct your refractive error would be put in its
place.

Both P-IOL and RLE are rather invasive procedures that require
significant skill and detailed evaluation.

For details on these issues, see:

http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/hyperopia.htm

http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/ck.htm

http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/piol.htm

http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/rle.htm

Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
USAEyes.org

"Consider and Choose With Confidence"

Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org

http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org

I am not a doctor.

Dr. Leukoma

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

Don't bother with CK, or LASIK for that matter. Glenn is correct.
Stick with the contact lenses.

DrG

Pam Gasson

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

Thank you both for your replies.I can forget about
it now.I am pleased with my Focus Night@Day so will
stay with them.
Pam

>Don't bother with CK, or LASIK for that matter. Glenn is correct.
>Stick with the contact lenses.
>
>DrG
>

--
Pam Gasson

Dr. Leukoma

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

While I am sure they exist, I have never found a person who was happy
with the results of their surgical correction of farsightedness. A few
of them have been outright miserable.

DrG

William Stacy

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

Agreed, unless you are presbyopic. In which case clear lens exchange is
an option, but only if you are less than thrilled with CL wearing.

w.stacy, o.d.

Pam Gasson wrote:
>
> Thank you both for your replies.I can forget about
> it now.I am pleased with my Focus Night@Day so will
> stay with them.
> Pam
>
>

retinula@hotmail.com

2005-05-18, 11:27 am

i would agree that refractive surgery on hyperopes if far less
successful than myopes, but i think you overstated your case. i can
tell you, from working part time in a refractive surgery practice, that
i see people every day that are happy with their LASIK correction of
farsightedness. especially if the person is +4 and +6! even if their
procedure only partially corrects them to +1 their vision is much
improved and they are happy because they can see well at distance
without glasses.

Dr. Leukoma

2005-05-19, 8:56 am

As I said, I am sure they exist, and I have heard they exist. I just
don't know of any personally. I don't work in a refractive surgery
practice, but I certainly know what it is like. You are doing your
level best to produce the best outcome, and the patient does their
level best to accept the outcome they get.

I don't want to get into a major debate here, but I think that there
have been some interesting examples posted here recently which
illustrate various levels of satisfaction and how patients deal with
the artifacts induced by their surgeries. They tend to accept the 50%
of the good and learn to deal with the rest. Human nature.

DrG