Keratoconus Patient with Hydrops Receives GVR Scleral Lens

The patient in this photo was diagnosed with advanced keratoconus over 30 years ago. For many years she visited a number of eye doctors trying to get fit with contact lenses that she could wear comfortably with clear vision. Four years ago she developed this bright white spot in her right cornea. She visited doctors at several world famous eye institutions who told her that the only treatment was corneal transplant surgery. The white spot is a condition called “hydrops.” This conditions develops when the most posterior corneal membrane tears due to internal pressures within the eye outward into the weakened, thinned out cornea. When this event takes place, fluid (aqueous) from within the eye enters the center of the cornea and can give the cornea a milky or opaque white appearance. In this instance, the clear cornea in front of the pupil was spared and therefore a corneal transplant was not necessary. Last year we fit this patient with GVR Scleral lenses which are providing this patient with clear, comfortable stable vision with all day lens wear. The photo below shows the opaque white area in this patient’s cornea which is the hydrops. As long as this patient wears her GVR Scleral lenses she will never need to undergo corneal transplant surgery.