Keratoconus
Keratoconus Treatment in PUNE
There is a progressive disease of the eyes which is called Keratoconus. In this case, the cornea becomes very thin and after that, it begins to bulge into a conical shape. As a result, a patient can face irregular refraction of light rays entering the eyes, blurriness, distorted vision, a high astigmatic error which is the high cylindrical power of glasses and so on.
Sometimes Keratoconus is asymmetric but usually, it affects both eyes. Teenagers or people in their early twenties suffer most from these diseases.
What are thesymptoms of Keratoconus ?
Treatments always depend on the stage of the severity and the rate of the progression of the disease. Eyeglasses and contact lenses are generally suggested in the case of keratoconus whenever it is mild or moderate. Sometimes it is self-limiting and stabilizing after a few weeks. Doctors suggest surgical interventions whenever the condition goes out of control.
What are thetreatments of Keratoconus ?
Treatments always depend on the stage of the severity and the rate of the progression of the disease. Eyeglasses and contact lenses are generally suggested in the case of keratoconus whenever it is mild or moderate. Sometimes it is self-limiting and stabilizing after a few weeks. Doctors suggest surgical interventions whenever the condition goes out of control.
Treatments for keratoconus
Spectacles
If it is the case of early keratoconus or forme fruste keratoconus, an opthalmologist often suggests a proper prescription of the glasses with good refraction. It is enough to deal with visual needs.
Contact Lenses
A contact lens treatment is the most common in the case of keratoconus. Ophthalmologists recommend regular contact lenses first and that is enough in the early stages of the disease. But you may need specialised contact lenses if the situation went above normal. Here is the list of contact lenses that you can choose according to the depth of your disease:
Soft Contact Lenses: If your disease is in the early stage, a soft contact lens can be helpful. But you have to be ready to change your contact lens frequently if you are using soft contact lenses. Because it has limits to correcting a certain amount of astigmatism. Do in cases a patient can achieve good vision with soft contact lenses or spectacles with these lenses.
Rigid Gas Permeable or Hard Contact Lenses: If a patient suffers from vision problems even after using soft contact lenses, they may need to opt for rigid gas permeable or hard contact lenses. You may feel uncomfortable using these hard contact lenses but you have to be habituated with time to cure your problems. Because they are capable to connect corneal astigmatism.
Piggyback Lenses: This is a rarely used contact lens. It is a special kind of lens that your doctor might offer you when you find your hard lenses to be difficult or uncomfortable to carry. It is a combination of two lenses where there is a hybrid lens and on the other hand, it applies the same logic in a single lens. They will provide you with the advantages of both lenses because of having a softer ring around the rigid centre. Whereas the rigid lenses correct high astigmatism and the soft frills can keep you more comfortable. But these lenses are comparatively expensive.
Scleral Contact Lenses and Rose K Lenses: These Lenses are recommended for the advance staged patient with keratoconus. They are manufactured only for advanced decease. They have large-diameter lenses which rest on the sclera ( white part of the cornea) and vault over the irregular cornea. These Lenses are very expensive and the fitting requires the services of a specialist.
Finding well-fitted contact lenses is a very difficult task so you must be under the care of a cornea specialist for this reason and you have to ensure a regular follow up to avoid any such kind of complications.
Surgery
When the situation is rapidly progressing, surgery might be needed. There are some steps when a doctor suggests surgeries. When your cornea becomes very thin when you can’t tolerate contact lenses when your vision remains the same after using contact lenses, and when your power of the eyes changes very frequently, your doctor will recommend you to go through surgical options.
Here is a list of most commonly used surgical techniques to restore vision in patients with keratoconus, they are as follows:
Corneal Cross-Linking (C3R): Corneal Cross-linking is a new therapeutic non-sergical treatment that has a higher success rate than the other conventional treatment procedures. This is commonly known as C3R or CXL. Doctors use riboflavin drops in this treatment process and recommend exposing the eyes to controlled UV Rays to make the cornea more strong and help to flatten it. This can halt the progression of the keratoconus, thus, most patients go back to their normal glasses and obviate the need for corneal transplants.
INTACS, Corneal Inserts or Intracorneal Ring Segments: This is a kind of treatment where your surgeon put two plastic half-moon shaped rings in the cornea to stabilize it through small incisions which help in flattening the conical protrusion of the cornea. This is also helpful like C3R. They both can decrease the need for corneal transplants as they make the contact lenses fit easily.
Cornea Transplant or Keratoplasty: Keratoplasty is a kind of surgery where the cornea is replaced by a donated one. This treatment is done in case of a severe condition. Depending on the extent of scarring and corneal thickness, Penetrating Keratoplasty and Lamellar Keratoplasty are done. Full-thickness treatment is named Penetrating Keratoplasty and partial thickness treatment is called Lamellar Keratoplasty. It is held that the former treatment procedure fails a lot of times and carries a higher rate of complications. The last one undergoes dramatic developments and Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (DALK) which combines the added efficacy of a Penetrating Keratoplasty. Here, the complication rate is minimum.
Find the best hospital for Keratoconus treatment
Any eye threatening disease can be treated in Indovision Cataract & Laser Eye Centre, Pune. It is a well-equipped center where you find the best treatments for your eyes. Here the doctors are extremely skilled and we’ll be versed in the surgical techniques to manage Keratoconus.