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 (1+2) CONTACT LENS 3

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 STUDENTS PRACTICE THE TORIC CL FITING AND KERATOCONUS EVALUTION

Keratoconus  is a degenerative disorder of the eye in which structural changes within the cornea cause it to thin and change to a more conical shape than its normal gradual curve.

Keratoconus can cause substantial distortion of vision, with multiple images, streaking and sensitivity to light all often reported by the patient. It is typically diagnosed in the patient's adolescent years. If afflicting both eyes, the deterioration in vision can affect the patient's ability to drive a car or read normal print

 Signs and symptoms

 

People with early keratoconus typically notice a minor blurring of their vision and come to their clinician seeking corrective lenses for reading or driving. At early stages, the symptoms of keratoconus may be no different from those of any other refractive defect of the eye. As the disease progresses, vision deteriorates, sometimes rapidly. Visual acuity becomes impaired at all distances, and night vision is often poor. Some individuals have vision in one eye that is markedly worse than that in the other. The disease is often bilateral, though asymmetrical. Some develop photophobia (sensitivity to bright light), eye strain from squinting in order to read, or itching in the eye, but there is normally little or no sensation of pain. It may, in certain cases cause luminous objects appear like cylindrical pipes with the same luminous intensity at all points

Rigid Gas Permeable Contact Lens fitted to an eye with Keratoconus

Treatment options for Keratoconus include;

• Spectacles
• Soft contact lenses
• Rigid gas permeable contact lenses (when fitted properly this is the most successful option)
• Hybrid contact lenses (SynergeyesTM)
• Mini-scleral contact lenses
• Intacs with Riboflavin cross-linking
• Re-prescribing glasses, soft contact lenses or rigid gas permeable contact lenses after Intacs
• If corneal transplantation is finally required its success rate is greater than 95% when undertaken by an expert corneal surgeon. 40% of people having corneal transplants will require contact lenses again and the vast remaining number will require some form of spectacles.

Unfortunately the reality is that many people with Keratoconus struggle to function in every-day life due to inappropriate treatment options or advice.