Patient: 82 YOM With Fuchs Dystrophy, Cataract, and Detached Retina
April 27, 2010
My 82 year old father underwent cataract surgery on his left eye approximately 4 years ago. The ophthalmologist was unaware of his existing Fuchs Dystrophy. The cataract surgery ruined his cornea which resulted in a corneal transplant. Within a few days of the corneal transplant, he experienced severe pain in his eye. Because it was the weekend, the doctor’s office suggested he wait for normal business hours. When he did go in, the surgeon tugged and pulled at his stitches, removing some, adding more. His condition worsened, and he was referred to a retina specialist. He now had a detached retina behind his new cornea. The surgery to correct the detached retina was postponed for 4 months. As a result of this calamitous series of events, my father has lost the vision in his left eye. He is suffering from cataracts in his right eye but is obviously scared to undergo surgery due to the presence of Fuchs Dystrophy in that eye, and of course, the blindness in the left eye caused by the cataract, cornea and retina surgeries. Can you suggest what my dad should do about getting the cataracts fixed in his cloudy right eye?
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8 Responses to “Patient: 82 YOM With Fuchs Dystrophy, Cataract, and Detached Retina”
Went for pre-op eval for Cataracts, a year or so ago, & was diagnosed w/Fuchs Dystrophy. Numbers good-thickness,no edema, but lower cell ct. Had cataract surg w/complication of weak zonules-discovered in surgery. Lens placed in anterior chamber. Fuchs stable post-op, but now I have scar & Macular Wrinkles and distorted vision. Vision was 20/40 pre-op, now 20/70. Now need a Retinal specialist to evaluate & perhaps remove the scar. Dr wants a Retinal specialist at his side w/next cataract surgery.
Where can I find a medical center with someone really expert in all these potential complications?
It would be a good idea not to use acronyms, or assume everyone reading on the “world” wide web is from the United States.
And, my wonderful doc is Mark Gorovoy, M.D., In Ft.Myers, mentioned above, the innovator in DSAEK!!!
9days postoperative on cataract surgery, healing well, still cloudy vision. But, that is to be expected with the IOL that my doc inserted. this lens is one diopter more or less depending on the transplant lining I will get in May.
Hi I’m suffering from fuchs and have been reading up on the diseases at the below sites. Fuch’s is different and you will need to go to a corneal specialist who is well versed in diseases of the cornea, as these sites will show you. Any eye specialist will not do.
hope this helps
Dr.D. Pereira
FUCHSSUPPORT LIBRARY:
http://www.library. fuchssupport. info
ACRONYMS USED IN FUCHSSUPPORT GROUP:
http://files. fuchssupport. info/Definitions .html
FUCHSSUPPORT TRANSPLANT COMPARISON:
http://library. fuchssupport. info/Comparison. html
FUCHSSUPPORT TRANSPLANT FAQ (“frequently asked questions”):
http://files. fuchssupport. info/Cornea_ Transplant_ FAQ.html
need to know what city you live in to recommend an eye doctor
he needs to see a very experienced cataract surgeon. if the cornea fails- and it might very well fail no matter how good the surgery- then he needs dsaek as described by jim. pk is not necessary anymore for fuch’s. not too many ophthalmologists do a high number of dsaek- he may very well have to go to a world-class institution for that.
better to tackle the cataract before it gets too large ( a large, dense cataract makes the cataract surgery more risky and hard on the cornea).
I too have Fuchs and am 60 years old. I would suggest that you get him to one of the top docs in the country to evaluate him.
The ones that come to mind are Dr. Mark Terry, Portland, OR; Dr. Francis Price, Indiana, Dr. Mark Gorovoy, Fort Myers, FL. There are several others with lots of experience treating Fuchs and removing cataracts on patients with Fuchs. But the information that I have indicates that these folks are at the forefront in the treatment of Fuchs.
It also sounds like your father had PK. They are now doing a procedure that has several advantages known as DSEK or DSAEK.
Finally, I would urge you to join the online forum Fuchs Friends. You can get a wealth of information from that group. They can be found at yahoo here;
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/fuchsfriends/
