Options for Patient With Damaged Corneas From Radial Keratotomy in 1982
February 27, 2012
I had 16 cut Radial Keratotomy (RK) surgery in 1982, and now have issues with my sight. My ophthalmologist has recommended refractive lens exchange (RLE), saying I am a +4 and a +6. I have the beginning of a cataract in my left eye, but it is not bad enough to be covered by insurance yet.
Wouldn’t a solution to the corneal defects be to replace the cornea? Having had 4 surgeries (all for esotropia) and the 2 for RK, I think RLE is risky. My doctor is not especially good at explaining everything, and I am a bit unnerved by more surgery of that type which would enter from the periphery of my cornea.
I am not sure what to ask, but hope that the technology is getting to the point where I could just replace my surgically damaged corneas with rebuilt ones from my own adult stem cells. I believe just by fixing my corneas a lot of the halos, starbursts and night blindness could be diminished.
Is this a possibility yet? I am trying to research all my options.
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Comments
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a corneal transplant may very well help you, but your +4 and +6 prescription may stay the same, get worse or better- very unpredictable. but yes, if the radial cuts are causing a lot of glare/sunburst, a transplant will likely imrove that.
an rle will not help the glare/sunburst, but will reduce the +4 and +6– so it only solves part of the problem.
you may very well need 2 operations-1 for the cornea to get rid of the glare/sunburst from the radial cuts, and then an rle or intraocular “contact lens” to get rid of the +4/+6. if the transplant goes very well, you may get lucky and get close enough to plano to obviate a second operation.