Our friend Isaac Porter, MD – Raleigh, NC, USA created this special video especially for Keratoconus GB members to enjoy and share, with information about keratoconus. The vlog episode was filmed and created specifically for this blog.
Isaac is an expert in eye care and corneal issues including keratoconus, and is a fellowship trained cornea and refractive surgeon. Dr. Porter’s clinical interests include complex corneal problems, infections, and injuries, refractive surgery, complex and premium cataract surgery, and dry eye disease, and provides comprehensive eye care including management of glaucoma and diabetic eye disease. Dr. Porter is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, the Cornea Society, the American Medical Association, and the North Carolina Medical Society.
This is a special episode for Keratoconus GB the popular support group based in the UK, with global membership of over 7,000. In this video Isaac explains how he treats his keratoconus patients, and explains how early diagnosis is crucial.
Once KC is diagnosed then many people can get on well with either glasses or special contact lenses. It is important to have regular checks to monitor the progress of the disease and the steepness of the cornea. A newer option for early or mild, but still progressing keratoconus is cxl collagen cross linking, which is widely available in Europe and the rest of the world. We expect to see it achieve full FDA approval and come out of trial status in 2014.
Hopefully then this promising new treatment will be available to more people to stop the kc progressing in the USA some time in 2014. If you are not a candidate for cxl and can no longer comfortably wear either glasses or contact lenses then a corneal graft or transplant might be the best option. there are two types- firstly DALK or Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty (preferred) which sees less rejection episodes, as it removes all but the inner layers of the cornea, and provides a good thickness graft.
Secondly there is a full thickness graft or transplant, PKP or penetrating keratoplasty, which replaces all layers of the cornea, the recovery for this is at least 6 months to 18 months, and when stitches are finally removed glasses or lenses can be worn again to correct vision.