UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hello.

I am not living in the UK, but would still like to ask.

I had my left eye cornea transplated in 1997, still wearing contact lens on my right eye. This spring I could no longer use the contact lens. So I will have also my right eye cornea transplanted. Looking forward to having it done. For the time beeing I see only on my left eye, heavy correction glasses since lenses did not fit after surgery.

The qoestion is. There has been several examples on successful lasik surgery on cornea transplnsts recently. Are there any information on this, either here or elswhere on the web ? I have heard about people that get allmost 100 prcent vision after such surgery.

Hi Per,

Welcome to the forum, I had my grafts in 1989 (right) and 1990 (left) and I asked last year about LASIK and was told that this kind of treatment should be avaoided.

Sorry to be negative.

Regards

Gareth

Hi

I woudl avoid Lasik unless you have total confidence in your Consultant and he actually knows what he is doing......Lasik on Corneal Transplants is most of the time avoided....primariy as

a) we dont know if KC DOES actually come back..and IF it does than you will have potential "thined" a cornea that was prone to KC

b) a transplanted cornea is generailly extremely irregular in shape and placement...thus the results are unpredicatable

Hope that helps

J

Well, I had a talk with my doctor yesterday and I am pretty confident that I will hav a lasik done in short time. Either glasses nor lenses correct my sight good enough, and soon I will be in for another cornea-trasplant on my right eye (-20 and practically blind).

Very strange, though, this option is so little known in the UK or amongs readers of this forum.

Per

In all honesty there is alot of info on Lasik however its generaly not seen as a good idea on Keratconic Eyes and even post graft. Whilst, it may help you in the short term, the longer term issues may not be so great...and in all honesty there is not so much research on post graft eyes with lasik.

Bear in what what Lasik does...has this been explained to you?..the flap creation, the tissue removal?..

However, thats not to say it wont work or its bad...I guess its a judgement you need to make yourself...however be careful as at the end of the day you are removing corneal tissue on a grafted eye

Sorry to hear so negative responses from fellow people suffering from KC. I trust my consultant, beeing one of the best in the country on as well cornea grafts as lasik surgery, knows this quite well. I will gladly update you on the results.

Per

I think you may be misunderstanding or getting confused...there is no negativity..

You asked for an opinion I gave it....the final decision clearly lays with you...and if you feel that the consultant is good, and the results from Lasik on Grafted Eyes that he has achieved are acceptable ..then go ahead ( I know I would!..as by large alot of success around these procedures lays in the hands of the consultant).....thats all I am saying to you...just be aware of WHAT the procedure is and what it is doing to the eye.....

And also be aware that there are not many instances where Lasik has been performed on grafted eyes therfore its difficult to actually get a overall opinion on its effectiveness in the longer term........so I am basically giving you my opinion as a KC sufferer.......

Hope that clears this up!

Last thing I am sure you would want is to go ahead with this procedure and it complicates things for you.........as you have already been through a graft and thus know what is involved in suffering as a KC patient.

Thanks !

There are possible bi-effects, I have even heard about people that have had lasik done on healthy corneas ending up with KC and beeing forced into havind their cornea replaced. However, any person´s eye may change during a lifetime, even people with a perfect vision. Sometimes the risk is worth taking to get a decent life while beeing young and my little son grows up.

I'm not sure if it's actually Lasik itself, but at one point, my consultant was suggesting sending me to Moorfields to have "corrective surgery" (with a laser) to try and get better vision on the grafted eye.

In the end, I went for a scleral lens, but it is obviously a known practice to "tidy up" an astygmatic graft using laser surgery.

Hello.

News on my lasik-surgery. They do it i to operations in my hospital. One to correct irregularities in the cornea-surface, next one after 3-4 months to do the final correction for optimal sight. After the first step, I now see better than with correction with glasses (rose k contacts did not fit, neither did other lenses) It may still improve. So the surgeant wants to wait for another month or so to do the next op.

In the meantime it was my turn in the health queue and got an new cornea on my right eye, after six years, 18. nov!! Still a little grey vision two weeks post op. But improving. Crossing my fingers that this one will need less post op. correction.

I will update you on my left eye and the next and final lasik-operation on that eye.

Will at the same time wish all of you fellow KC-people with grafted eyes, recent/old/planned surgery, contact lens-owners, good luck and a merry Christmas !