RK Patient from Chile Seeing Well For Five Years with Scleral Lens

The photo below is of my patient David on the right with his wife, Patty in the center. David and Patty traveled to see us from Santiago, Chile. David underwent Radial Keratotomy surgery (R-K) in 1989 followed by LASIK surgery a number of years later. What resulted from these surgeries were severely distorted corneas along with a very dry eye. Without corrective lenses, David has no functional vision (less than 20/800). Eyeglasses and conventional contact lenses will not allow him to see correctly. 5 years ago, we fit David with GVR Scleral lenses. For the first time in many years, David has been able to see clearly and comfortably once again. Every year for the past 5 years, David has returned to Miami to visit our office for yearly examinations. Over the years, David’s vision has remained clear and his corneas have remained stable. In addition,because David’s scleral lenses keep his corneas in a liquid environment, he no longer has any dry eye symptoms. Before visiting us, 5 years ago, David was told that his only hope for clear vision was to undergo corneal transplant surgery. Based on how well David has done with his scleral lenses over the last 5 years, I don’t feel that he will ever need to undergo corneal transplant surgery. The lower photo is David’s right cornea with a GVR Scleral lens over it. The semi-round white cloudy spot below his pupil is due to a break or tear in the back surface of his cornea. This tear took place because his cornea became very pronounced over the years following his surgeries. When this happened fluid from inside the eye entered the cornea and created this milky-white spot. This condition is called “hydrops”.