Browse articles on EyeWorld.org from the Refractive section. EyeWorld is the award-winning member publication of ASCRS. The magazine provides news and updates from the Society as well as clinical features in the areas of cataract, refractive, cornea, glaucoma, and practice management. It publishes quarterly with editorial direction from its medical editorial board and staff.
With keratoconus, it’s important to diagnose patients as early as possible in order to treat them before more drastic procedures, like a corneal transplant, might be needed. Crosslinking has aided in the early treatment of keratoconus, and now, the use of genetic testing is another tool for doctors to add to their armamentarium.
To patients, eye rubbing might seem innocuous, but to the ophthalmologist, it’s an action that can have sight-threatening consequences and is something that patients should be warned against.
When choosing a refractive procedure, there is a lot of information for surgeons to go over with the patient, and the possibility of needing implant surgery in the future is one point for discussion. Three experts shared how they counsel patients, specific considerations, and how changing technology has had an impact on this and may open more options in the future.
Refractive Editor Vance Thompson, MD, shared some of the highlights in this issue’s Refractive section.
LASIK was established by the PROWL studies as safe and effective, with a high level of satisfaction, but there are patients who are unhappy with their outcomes, though rarely. Why this happens and how to best manage these patients is what three surgeons shared with EyeWorld.
Luke Rebenitsch, MD, described a case where he initially performed same-day hyperopic LASIK with the KAMRA inlay for distance and presbyopia correction in a 46-year-old patient. Several years later, he elected to implant IOLs once the patient started experiencing a hyperopic shift and lens-associated degradation in vision.
While common, EBMD is often missed, so it’s important to look for it. It can be one of the more frequently diagnosed causes of blurry vision before or after cataract surgery.
Myopia has been described as an epidemic in many regions for some time. Though considered easily correctable with glasses, myopia and high myopia are associated with a risk of developing cataracts sooner and a higher risk for glaucoma and retinal issues.
Less than 10 years ago, the idea that you could preserve vision and achieve corneal clearance in a patient with Fuchs without donor tissue was met with skepticism. Now this idea is increasingly accepted and adopted. Descemet’s stripping only (DSO), where a descemetorhexis is made in Descemet’s membrane without keratoplasty, was introduced in the mid-2010s.
Dr. Thompson spoke about some of the advances in refractive surgery over the last 25 years and previewed the articles in the Refractive section.