NOT ALL KERATOCONUS PATIENTS NEED GRAFT on diagnosis
if you have just heard this shocking news that you have keratoconus , the first thing to do is to accept it bravely.
you probably have been told by your ophthal that corneal graft is the only remedy ARE WE SURE ABOUT IT ?
who is the doctor who has diagnosed it ? is he a cornea guy ( specialist )
i would consider that person a cornea guy for a karetoconus patient who is sufficiently exposed to karetoconus patients on day to day basis and deals in contact lenses ( meaning dispenses contact lenses ,has sufficient knowledge about rgp lenses)
diagonosis and treatment are two different aspects in kc . a doctor with a little experience can make a diagnosis that a person has kc but not all can diagnose the stage in which you are in and what is the complexity of the situation.
put in all your effort to find yourself with the right person , internet and forums are the best medium for finding a good doctor who is dedicating and ready to offer you maximum of chairtime
in almost all the cases if you happen to find yourself with a good doctor you will not be guided for surgery unless the doctor finds the situation where surgical intervention is imminent
To answer the question... a graph is a remedy to give vision if there is a lot of central scarring (and in the future its hoped an early x linking could put a stop to advanced kc cones happening, where scarring is mostly seen)... but as you know some of this scarring is caused by hard flat fitting (much more an steep fitting) contact lens...so someone new to kc should know this...
so its in our hands and our specialist hands ... not only to give us comfortable and clear vision with contact (OR to tell us of the other options)... but also a contact lens which does not move around and "sand paper" our corneas and so to scar it... and in turn increasing the chance of a transplant...
The specialist must be someone willing to learn from the informed patient in what they would like to have... and there must be trust both ways too... if not switch to the next available specialist... Have a read of this topic, for those who have not yet...
you would be lucky if your vision is corrected with the help of spectacles as they do not come in contact with your eyes
if you are advised to wear lenses you should know why you are advised contact lenses i'e there is irregularity in your cornea which can be only be corrected with lenses
let us consider our eye as a camera . consider the lens as cornea and body of the camera as retina , if keratoconus is there then the body of the camera is perfect, only the lens has some defect so we need to put a zoom lens ( contact lens or sclerals ) over the lens ( cornea) to make the camera function .
Yes... but there is a difference seen in the out-come of flat fitting contact lens and steep fitting contact lenses in the amount of scarring people get in the quoted study, I mean who's been told about that or adviced about that by their contact lens specialist? I am sure a lot of people can switch to something other than flat fitting contact lenses!
BTW The cornea contributes between 65-75 percent of the eye's total focusing power.
the usual comment by doctors made when asked about success rate in corneal grafting is 90 - 95%
that 5 to 10% of things might going wrong should be significantly taken for achievers of good vision ( 6/9 or more ) with correction by rgp ,, kc patients with good vision are being lured for transplant in my country
Not just your country Vikram-- The problem with this arguement is that people do not want to hear it. I understand the situation of those whom have had graft but there is a denial that is present amoung those who have not. Its a matter of opinion-- I agree with you Vikram but many do not. Who's right? We hold medicine in such high regard, but maybe we should question it that little bit more. All the best, Hari