Radial Keratotomy

This patient standing to my right became legally blind due to a refractive surgery procedure known as Radial Keratotomy (RK). Radial Keratotomy involves the surgeon making radial incisions from the outer portion of the cornea extending all the way to the center of the cornea. Millions of patients throughout  North America had this surgery done. Almost all of these patients who had Radial Keratotomy surgery are now suffering some degree of vision loss and also loss of ocular comfort. 

 Radial Keratotomy has the effect of making the front surface of the cornea distorted and irregular. As the  years go by the corneal distortion increases to the extent that eye glasses and conventional contact lenses are unable to provide this patient population with quality vision. The standard of care for treating patients who have lost significant vision due to Radial Keratotomy is a well fit scleral lens. Scleral lenses replace the irregular corneas as an optical surface. In addition, these lenses do not touch the compromised cornea. Instead, scleral lenses are designed to vault over the compromised cornea and come to rest on the white portion of the eye known as the sclera. In other words, the front surface of the eye is always in a moist environment. Vision and comfort are almost always excellent. 

In this photo standing on the extreme left and right are out student externs. The patient standing on my right has not had clear functional vision for over 10 years. The attached photos show corneas that have been damaged by Radial Keratotomy surgery. Note the open wounds, still open after so many years.