The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : New procedure to treat corneal disease

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 26, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

New procedure to treat corneal disease

Staff Reporter

Intacs corneal implant done on three patients at Narayana Nethralaya

BANGALORE: Three patients suffering from keratoconus, an eye disease that causes dimming of vision, regained almost perfect sight through a new procedure performed at Narayana Nethralaya.

Keratoconus is a disease that causes progressive thinning of the cornea, the clear front position of the eye. This condition causes outward pressure from within the eye and makes the cornea to progressively bulge into cone shape.

Corneal transplant

The condition rarely results in complete blindness. But, it leads to corneal transplant in up to 20 per cent cases, according to experts.

Doctors at Narayana Nethralaya did Intacs corneal implant on two men and a woman.

The procedure, which takes 15 minutes, involves cutting a pocket into the cornea to insert the device. The wound is closed with a single stitch. Intacs corneal implants provide a distinctive method to improve a patient's vision and can delay the need for a corneal transplant, said Rohit Shetty, Cornea and Refractive Surgeon at Narayana Nethralaya, at a press conference on Tuesday.

The hospital claimed to be the first in India to obtain the technology to treat the condition.

Safer alternative

Intacs corneal implants were a safer alternative to a corneal transplant. "Placing Intacs in the periphery of the cornea flattens the centre by restoring the natural dome shape of the cornea to improve vision," he said.

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