Advanced Keratoconus and Vitrectomy now 20/20 with EyePrint Pro Scleral Lens

This is a photo of me with my patient Steve. Steve has an advanced case of keratoconus in both eyes and has been a patient of mine for 15 years. For 15 years, Steve has successfully been wearing scleral lenses in both eyes. Last year Steve had a retinal detachment in his right eye which required retinal surgery and a surgical procedure known as a “vitrectomy”. A “vitrectomy” involves the surgical removal of most of the contents within the eye (the vitreous) and replacing it with saline solution. Shortly after the “vitrectomy” procedure, Steve had cataract surgery in the same eye. A few months after the cataract surgery, the intra-ocular lens that was placed in the right eye became dislodged and dropped into the interior of the eye. This required an additional retinal surgery known as a scleral buckle, another “vitrectomy” and another intra-ocular lens insertion procedure. After several months of healing, the time was right to refit the right eye with a scleral lens. However, the multiple surgical procedures performed on Steve’s right eye created a severely distorted ocular surface. Besides Steve’s cornea being distorted and irregular, the entire white portion of Steve’s right eye had numerous “blebs” “bumps” and “depressions”. There was no way for any conventional scleral lens to fit on this eye. The front surface of Steve’s right eye was one of the most challenging and complicated eyes I have ever worked with. For this reason (4 months ago) we fit Steve’s right eye with an EyePrintPro prosthetic scleral lens. To create this lens, we had to make an impression of the front surface of the eye (painless and takes just a few minutes). The impression material was sent to a special laboratory where high tech computerized topographical 3D scanners were used to create a lens with a back surface that matched exactly the front ocular surface of Steve’s right eye. Every “hill” and “valley” on the ocular surface of Steve’s right eye was imbedded into the back surface of the EyePrintPro Scleral lens. Today, Steve was in for his final follow-up examination. Steve was able to see clearly (20/20) in his right eye today and has been able to wear his EyePrintPro lens all of his waking hours. Without this lens, Steve’s vision is less than 20/1000. To witness the vision in Steve’s right eye return from virtual blindness to clear comfortable 20/20 vision was one of the greatest joys in my professional career.