Two eyes – RK and Lasik

The 2 photos below are of eyes that underwent refractive surgeries. The eye in the first photo underwent Radial Keratotomy (RK) eye surgery over 30 years ago followed by LASIK about 15 years later. Several years after the LASIK this patient lost vision suddenly. Post-LASIK ectasia was the cause of the vision loss. Shortly after the ectasia was diagnosed, this eye developed a condition known as “hydrops”. This is a condition where the most posterior corneal membrane ruptures allowing fluid from within the eye to enter the cornea creating a scarred appearance. In this photo, the white oval scar that you see is the result of the “hydrops”. Also note the numerous blood vessels that have spread throughout the cornea. A healthy cornea is devoid of all blood vessels. This eye was fit with a scleral lens (seen in this photo) which has provided a significant amount of vision improvement. The 2nd photo seen below is of an eye that underwent Radial Keratotomy (RK) many years ago. About 20 years after undergoing this surgery, this patient’s cornea became infected and inflamed and needed to be replaced with a new cornea. The end result was a total of 4 corneal transplant surgeries that were done on this eye. This is a photo of the 4th transplanted cornea which is failing and will need to be replaced. There is no functional vision in this eye.