Corneal Ectasia

This is a profile view of an eye that underwent LASIK surgery 15 years ago. For 7 years this patient saw clearly. In a matter of one month, this patient’s vision with this eye degraded dramatically to the point where glasses or conventional contact lenses were not able to provide functional vision to this patient with this eye. The condition seen in this photo is called “Corneal Ectasia”. LASIK is a surgical procedure that thins out the cornea. In other words, the corneal “wall” is weakened. Over a period of years, the pressures within the eye against this weakened corneal “wall” can make it protrude or “buckle”. When this takes place we call this “post LASIK corneal ectasia”. Corneal Ectasia has been known to take place up to 12 years after the LASIK surgery was done. There is no way to determine with 100% certainty if corneal ectasia will take place in any patient who undergoes LASIK surgery. While corneal ectasia is not a commonly seen complication of LASIK surgery, it is not uncommon either. In this photo note the protrusion of the lower half of this cornea. This is the cornea bulging forward or the ectasia.