KC - Can this possibly be true?

[Michael P]

My brother has just phoned me following a consultation with a top opthalmic surgeon (and I mean top) on a non-kc related issue.

My brother mentioned my problems and how my vision has been deteriorating ( I think due to cataracts and I have just had my right eye done and without a lens, there does appear to be some improvement, so fingers crossed.

The surgeon explained KC to my brother in detail and said - and wait for it - there is no reason why ANYONE with KC (yes anyone) shouldn't be able to achieve 20/20 vision either with properly fitting lenses or failing that special glasses.

My brother is a bright fellow and I do not think for one moment that he has misunderstood what was said to him.

So what do you think

[Sweet]

Hhmm when i was first diagnosed this did kinda make sense to me as well! I mean how hard can it be if you can make the cornea a better shape? There is nothing wrong with the lens or optic nerve etc!

But then time went by and everything got more confusing and i grew up and realised that it wasn't that simple to just flattern the cornea!!

it was a lovely thought though!!

[Michael P]

Sweet, my brother clearly is of the opinion that the surgeon's view is that in most cases lenses will do the job but failing that SPECIAL GLASSES WILL!

[GarethB]

I think the key statement is

properly fitting lenses or failing that special glasses

Unless you have stable KC you will never have properly fitting lenses. Plus with stable KC and the lenses available through the NHS a bespoke lens is rarely available.

Special glasses I take to be more than lenses with a high refraction. Again availability and easy acces to those who can make them.

I think if people could use special glasses we would all be using them in preference to the damn piecees of plastic we have to clean and occasionaly replace because they fall out!

Who is this specialist, perhaps we should invite him as a guest speaker

[Pat A]

My KC has only been diagnosed recently (at the old age of 52) but at the time of diagnosis I was told that I have had this condition for many years - probably since my twenties which is when I was first diagnosed with an astigmatism. I was advised that I have been lucky that the condition has obviously been quite stable for many years and that only recently has it obviously deteriorated quite rapidly..

My KC has therefore been successfully managed with glasses and latterly soft lenses and I have had satisfactory (with the emphasis on satisfactory!) vision for many years. So that would fit the picture this surgeon has suggested .......wouldn't it....?

As Gareth rightly says, now my KC is not stable, special glasses do not help, and I'm not tolerating RGP lenses (that's going from bad to worse folks but is another thread). So I'd like to know who this guy is too so that he can find me some glasses that help me to see!

[Michael P]

I have just spoken to my brother again. I suggested that perhaps he had misunderstood and that the surgeon really said that generally lenses or glasses would correct the vision satisfactorily.

He said that he thinks what he said originally is correct in so much that everyone with KC should be able to achieve 20/20 vision with lenses or special glasses although the word surgery did not come into the conversation.

If anybody wants to spend £120 for a consultation I will gladly pm the surgeon's name and then we will know once and for all

[jayuk]

Catergoric Nonsense! Or your brother mis heard him?

The surface area, for example, of a medium to advanced Keratoconic cornea is far to complex for any lens material to adjust to it to the required manner, and still be able to give sustainable perfect vision for long periods of time...there are far to many variables involved.

[Michael P]

Jay, you are probably right.

I suggest we put this thread to bed.

[Lynn White]

Well before we do Michael....

I would also like to know this consultant's name and address so I can write to him? You can pm it to me privately...

What he has been reported as saying is not correct at all and I would like to find out if he actualy really meant to say that!

Lynn

[james mckinlay]

i dont mean to sound nasty or that but this surgeon sounds like he is insane.

if he knew about KC then he would know that 20/20 vision isnt possible.

but then again never say never but i would be verry verry reluctant to believe that its possible to get 20/20 vision.