Radial Keratotomy Patient Seeing 20/20 Comfortably with GVR Scleral Lens

This patient underwent Radial Keratotomy eye surgery in 1992 in an effort to eliminate her need for eyeglasses. She saw relatively well until 2012 when she noticed that her vision deteriorated very rapidly. She visited a number of eye clinics seeking help in restoring her vision. The eyeglasses and contact lenses that were prescribed for her were unable to provide her with functional vision. In October, 2012 she visited a corneal surgeon for a LASIK surgical consultation. This corneal surgeon declined to do LASIK telling her that she faced a greater risk for further vision loss with any additional refractive surgical procedures. In November, 2012, this patient visited our office. We examined her and fit both eyes with GVR Scleral lenses. With these special lenses, this patient can see clearly (20/20) and comfortably once again with all day lens wear. For the past several years both corneas have remained stable. The 2 photos below show her corneas with open incisions. The green color is due to a special dye that we instilled in her eyes. This view is taken through a microscope with a filter placed before each eye. Radial Keratotomy (R-K) incisions typically remain open and do not heal.The bright green linear lines are the open R-K incisions that have not healed 20+ years following her R-K surgery. Because of this, there is a life long risk of corneal and other intra-ocular infections. The scleral lenses that we designed for her not only provide this patient with excellent vision but also protect her corneas from infections and possible ocular trauma. In addition, because there is a liquid reservoir between the back surface of the lenses and the front surface of her corneas (the lenses do not touch the corneas) her corneas will always be in a liquid environment and not be dry.