Managing Corneal Dystrophies With Lenses
New designs and materials can aid practitioners in treating dystrophies and associated conditions.
Long D. Tran, OD, FAAO (CLS March 2011)
The array of symptoms that patients who have corneal dystrophic disease will experience can vary from none to severe. In the early stages of the disease, patients may complain only of blurry vision and/or a foreign body sensation. In the advanced stages of the disease, patients may have limited vision in conjunction with severe discomfort or pain.
Treating these corneal dystrophies, by and large, involves managing patients' symptoms during episodes of epithelial and stromal compromise. Poor epithelial adhesion due to a physiologic change of any of the underlying corneal layers (basement membrane, Bowman's layer, stroma, and endothelium) may result in epithelial defects and erosions. Patients who suffer from corneal erosions require prompt management of the pain and decreased vision. While therapeutic and surgical options are both viable, bandage soft contact lenses can serve as a useful and readily available alternative. In addition to reducing patient symptoms and promoting corneal healing, bandage contact lenses may also delay the need for more invasive treatment procedures such as corneal stromal puncture or phototherapeutic keratectomy.
Of particular interest to me was the table at the end of the article. I had no idea there were so many different dystrophies that could present with recurrent erosions. Other than ABMD and Fuch's many of these were new to me:
No comments:
Post a Comment