Ectasia: Do NOT Get Intacs

To the members of this group who were diagnosed with post-LASIK ectasia and were told that Intacs surgery was indicated to correct this condition, please consider the photos below. All of these photos were taken of the same eye at different times. This eye underwent LASIK about 15 years ago. Several years later this patient was told that he had ectasia in this eye and that the best way to correct this condition was Intacs surgery. Intacs are plastic rings that are surgically inserted into the center of the cornea. The idea of these rings is to make the cornea more spherical. Several years after these rings were inserted into this cornea, crystals began forming over and around the Intacs rings. 5 years later, an inflammatory response developed around the lower plastic ring with significant blood vessel growth. One year later the lower Intacs ring was surgically removed. The corneal surgeon who removed this Intacs ring told me that it was touch and go as far as the need for a corneal transplant was concerned. The last photo shows this cornea after the Intacs was removed. This cornea will be permanently scarred. The point that I am trying to make is to be careful about any additional surgeries suggested to you to undo the damage caused by the first surgery. By the way, this patient is currently wearing a scleral lens over this eye for vision and comfort purposes.