Advanced Keratoconus Treatment Options

Keratoconus is a vision disorder that occurs when the normally round cornea (the front part of the eye) becomes thin and irregular (cone) shaped. This abnormal shape prevents the light entering the eye from being focused correctly on the retina and causes distortion of vision. In its earliest stages, keratoconus causes slight blurring and distortion of vision and increased sensitivity to glare and light. These symptoms usually appear in the late teens or late 20s. As keratoconus progresses, the cornea bulges more and vision may become more distorted.

How is keratoconus treated?

Keratoconus treatment depends on your symptoms. When your symptoms are mild, your vision can be corrected with eyeglasses. Later you may need to wear special hard contact lenses to help keep vision in proper focus. Here are other ways that your ophthalmologist might treat keratoconus:

• This is a small curved device that your ophthalmologist surgically puts in your cornea. Intacs help flatten the curve of your cornea to improve vision.
• Collagen cross-linking. Your ophthalmologist uses a special UV light and eye drops to strengthen the cornea. Doing this helps to flatten or stiffen your cornea, keeping it from bulging further.
• Corneal transplant. When symptoms are severe, your ophthalmologist may suggest a corneal transplant. Your ophthalmologist replaces all or part of your diseased cornea with healthy donor cornea tissue.

Refind transPRK for keratoconus treatment

TransPRK is a no touch, no blade technique that has all the benefits of Epi-LASIK with none of the risks. This is ideal for active sportsmen and people working in jobs that have high risk of injury to the eye.

Refind transPRK is a noninvasive procedure that uses laser energy to change the shape of the cornea. Refind transPRK is a type of customization that focuses on an individual patient’s cornea alone. Refind transPRK can be effective for keratoconus and may help patients avoid or delay keratoplasty.

Studies have concluded that treatment of keratoconus with a combination of corneal collagen cross-linking and Excimer laser Refind transepithelial PRK is possible. The aim of this combined treatment is regularization of the cornea and significant reduction of irregular astigmatism.

In a study 19 patients with myopic eyes and FFCK, were recruited in a prospective interventional case-series. All of the eyes underwent one-step refined TransPRK by the same refractive surgeon using SCHWIND AMARIS 500 laser. That study demonstrated promising long-term efficacy and safety of refined TransPRK in correction of myopia eyes with FFCK.

Our surface ablation protocol is intended to reduce postoperative pain and haze by minimizing the inflammation reaction and minimizing increased sensitivity to UVradiation injury.

References

http://www.transprk.com.sg/avp/Combined-Topography-Guided-Transepithelial-PRK-and-CXL-in-Patients-With-Keratoconus.pdf

https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/keratoconus-treatment

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320853477_Visual_outcomes_of_transepithelial_photorefractive_keratectomy_in_forme-fruste_keratoconus_18_month_follow-up

https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/keratoconus