Archive for July, 2009

LASIK after Corneal Transplants

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Many patients have high amounts of nearsightedness or astigmatism after a corneal transplant. The disparity between the transplanted eye and the patients other eye may be so great that it can be hard to wear glasses or contact lenses. In some cases, LASIK is the answer. A study sought to find out if wavefront-guided LASIK was effective after corneal transplants (penetrating keratoplasty) for an eye disease known as keratoconus.

At 3 years follow-up, standard LASIK and topographically guided two-step LASIK showed good results following penetrating keratoplasty for keratoconus, a study found.

“After a long follow-up period, both topographically guided two-step LASIK and standard LASIK could be considered effective and safe tools in the correction of refractive errors after successful [PK] for keratoconus,” the study authors said.

At the Laser Eye Center of Carolina, we perform corneal transplants and concur with the results of this study that show that LASIK can be useful after successful surgery. Many Raleigh, NC area patients have benefitted from our experience in cornea transplants and LASIK.

Crystalens for Cataract Surgery

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

Many Raleigh NC area patients consult us for LASIK in an effort to reduce their dependence on glasses.  Occassionally a patient will consult us for LASIK after discovering that their vision is worsening and we discover that they have cataracts.  For them, they can still achieve their goal of eyeglass independence but instead of LASIK the answer is cataract surgery with a presbyopia correcting lens such as Crystalens.

During cataract surgery the cloudy cataractous lens is replaced with a clear artificial lens (implant). Many patients with cataracts are candidates for a flexible implant that can focus both at distance and near to reduce or eliminate the need for reading glasses.

Patients who are good candidates for standard monofocal IOLs are typically good candidates for Crystalens. If a patient has healthy eyes, has not had previous cataract surgery, and does not suffer from any major health problems, then he or she is likely to be a good candidate.

More than twice the number of patients implanted with Crystalens could see well at all distances compared to a standard IOL.
Most Crystalens patients have reduced their dependence on glasses and are able to read the newspaper or a phone book without glasses.

Most Crystalens patients are able to see their computers, dashboards and anything else at arm’s length without glasses.
Most Crystalens patients are able to see 20/40 or better after surgery, so the clock across the room and the TV in the corner are clearly within sight.

Many of our Raleigh NC area Crystalens patients can see well enough to do away with their reading glasses, bifocals, or contact lenses. The Crystalens procedure is highly successful and most people regain very good distance vision, somewhere between 20/20 and 20/40.

At the Laser Eye Center of Carolina we are pleased to offer more than just LASIK.  The Crystalens is an important new innovation that, like LASIK, can reduce dependence on glasses.

Not All Custom LASIK is CustomVue

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Raleigh area LASIK candidates can be confused by advertisements for “custom LASIK”. Patients considering LASIK and who understand that the results of custom LASIK are in general, better than conventional LASIK, may mistakenly believe that all providers who offer custom LASIK are offering the same service.

Unfortunately, some providers of wavefront optimized LASIK advertise their procedure as “custom”. This is a distortion of the original meaning of custom LASIK which refers to wavefront guided LASIK.

Although a thorough understanding of the difference would take much more room than can be spent on this blog, needless to say, the visual performance of wavefront guided LASIK tends to be better than wavefront optimized. This has been born out by numerous studies and is the reason that NASA and the Department of Defense prefers wavefront guided LASIK.

Vision problems can be categorized into lower order ones (nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism) and higher order aberrations:  the type that cause visual distortions, night time halos and starbursts. Wavefront optimized LASIK simply means there is an effort made not to induce new aberrations. Wavefront guided LASIK means that there is an effort to correct any preexisting distortions /aberrations and is the reason some LASIK patients will note that there vision is actually better after LASIK than it was before with their best glasses or contact lenses.

Raleigh area LASIK candidates may want to investigate data submitted to the FDA on LASIK. They will discover that the LASIK technology with the highest ever rate of 20/20 results was accomplished by CustomVue on a VISX Star laser and is the same technology employed here at the Laser Eye Center of Carolina.

Warfighter Refractive Surgery Program

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Contact lenses are impracticle on the battlefield.  Eyeglasses can be scratched, lost or fog up.  Believing that freedom from glasses or contact lenses improves combat readiness, the Department of Defense has established the Warfighter Refractive Surgery Program.  LASIK and PRK surgery featuring CustomVue, the exact same technology we utilize at the Laser Eye Center of Carolina, is being offered to correct the vision of soldiers, sailors and aviators.  The response has been overwhelming and military surgeons can’t keep up with the demand.  The Laser Eye Center of Carolina is proud to support our military and has offered a discount to enlisted military for several years.  Numerous enlisted personnel have taken us up on our offer and the emails we receive from overseas thanking us couldn’t be more gratifying.

Vision Stable to 14 Years After Laser Vision Correction

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

How long will my LASIK last?

This is a common question I am asked by patients.  For most patients, the benefits of LASIK may last a lifetime.  Notice that I didn’t say that you will be 20/20 or have perfect vision for a lifetime.  LASIK or PRK does not prevent normal aging changes from occurring.  Thus if you were destined to develop increasing astigmatism as you age or the need for reading glasses in your later years, this will still happen.  However, in most instances, patients will maintain excellent distance vision for many years.  A majority of patients will continue to pass their driver’s license exam without restriction.  This is not just my observation but is confirmed by recent study performed 14 years after laser vision correction.  The results showed that the majority of patients were still satisfied with their vision and that acuity remained remarkably stable.  For more information on this study, click on the link www.osnsupersite.com/view.aspx.  If you are ready to explore the possibilities and visual freedom that LASIK can offer you, come in for a no-obligation consultation.