Keratoconus Surgery
KeratoconusIt is a disease that occurs in the form of thinning and progressive extension of the transparent layer in the anterior part of the eye, namely the cornea, in the front of the eye. This disorder, which is more common in women, changes the strength of the cornea's refractive errors and causes severe astigmatism and blurred vision. Also known as corneal sharpening, swelling and whitening occur from the last stage of this condition. The cornea is the most important layer of the eye where all the light that comes into contact with the eye is refracted. Therefore, false focusing in this layer seriously reduces the quality of vision. The symptoms of keratoconus are the reasons such as the patient's constant change of glasses, visual impairment, allergic structure, low vision that cannot be corrected with glasses, inability to read comfortably, and inability to notice distant objects. Sometimes the patient says that their vision is smoother and clearer when they apply pressure on the eyelids or pull the eyelids towards the bell. Such a situation may be encountered in
keratoconus disorders, but it should be known that there is a temporary improvement. It is never possible
to clarify vision in this way. Keratoconus is a disorder that is seen in one in 1000 people, and if these
symptoms occur, a specialist should be consulted immediately. Otherwise, the patient's eyesight may go up
to severe loss. This means 95 percent vision loss and the patient may have difficulty seeing even 1 meter
ahead. Although we do not call this as complete blindness, we can also call it legal blindness.
Keratoconus disorderIt usually occurs in adolescence and early diagnosis in childhood is very difficult. This situation requires extensive examinations. Previously, patients saw themselves as myopia, but as age progresses, this situation leaves its place to keratoconus. The patient, on the other hand, starts to change glasses constantly, but no improvement is seen despite the glasses. In patients considering Excimer Laser treatment, the presence of this disease may sometimes be found incidentally during corneal examination. Special hard contact lenses are used in keratoconus where treatment should be started immediately. Of course, these lenses do not stop the progression of the disease, they only correct astigmatism by preventing the corneal center from protruding forward, and vision can be slightly increased by providing clear vision. But as the disease progresses, it doesn't work in this case. Another treatment method is corneal transplant surgery. This is not possible because the cornea is expensive and its donations are insufficient. In the case of corneal transplant surgery, it is sometimes the preferred treatment as the last method, as the body has a 15-20% probability of rejecting the tissue. With the developing technology, it is possible to stop this ailment with Corneal Cross Linking, which is a very popular treatment method in recent years.