Laser Surgery

Hi all,

I relatively new on this forum board but wanted t share my story and see if anyone else had shared similar experiences.

To cut a long story shory, I had an accident at work which involved getting minerals, sand and dust in both of my eyes.  3 months later I had a corneal abraison in my left eye which turned into an ulcer, and every 12 months since then I keep developing abraisions and ulcers.  I keep getting the abraision/ulcer 12 months apart for 3 years now.  Currently I am seeing two Opthamologists and I can't but help think that they are not treating my like an individual case, but merely another number.

The first opthamologist said that he thinks it might be a herpes viral infection, whereas the 2nd opthamologist said that he thinks he can see rust in my corneal scar, well he said it's either rust or pigment.  At this time currently it feels like there is a localised pressure behind the scar as if my eye is trying to push something out.

Anyhow, I don't mean to deviate on the story too much..... but my question is, 1 year ago I had a corneal scar that was 380 microns deep which has now dramatically reduced in size, now 170 microns deep.  My cornea is about 540 microns thick and I was wonering what types of surgery are available to me in order to get my vision back.

The last doctor suggested superficial keratectomy, but said I would have a flat part in my corea which is not good considering the scar is right in line with my visual axis (directly over my pupil).  I know with laser surgery, they completely reshape the cornea.  But yeah I was wondering if it was possible if laser surgery can completly rid of this scar (170 microns deep)?

I am only 24 years old, and want to enjoy 20/20 vision again.

Has anybody else undertaken laser surgery to remove corneal scarring? And was it successful?  Also how deep was your scar?

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

The problem is the refractive change involved in removing 170 microns in the visual axis.  You will become very farsighted.  You may need a corneal transplant.  Get opinions from a few corneal specialist.

Dr. O.