Hope for Lasik Complications Patients

These two cross-sectional images were taken with a technology known as Ocular Coherence Tomography or “OCT.” These are images of an eye that underwent 2 separate R-K surgeries followed by 2 separate LASIK surgeries. These are images of the same cornea (in cross-section) as if the eye was pointed to the sky. The images were taken at 2 different cross-sectional “cuts” in much the same way as if you were cutting a pie from 12:00 O’Clock to 6:00 O’Clock and another cut from 9:00 O’Clock to 3:00 O’Clock.

The top 2 curved lines represent the front and back surface of the scleral lens which is fit over the corneal surface. The thick curved grey structure is the cornea in cross-section. In the top image note the 3 “bubble like” protrusions. This is the corneal epithelium or outer cellular layer of the cornea separating from the underlying cornea. On the back surface of the cornea note a fine membrane “hanging” from the back surface of the cornea. This is known as “Descemet’s Membrane.” The structural damage seen in these images is due to a cornea weakened from stresses placed on it by multiple surgeries which took place many years prior.

The damaged caused by the 4 refractive surgical procedures resulted in this patient losing significant vision and suffering ocular pain for many years. She is now seeing clearly with gas permeable scleral lenses without ocular pain.