Re: Haze following PRK

Posted By KJ on March 09, 1999 at 00:17:59:

In Reply to: Re: Haze following PRK posted by HFHS M.D.-JL on March 07, 1999 at 23:21:11:






Have had PRK several times on both eyes.  Following each surgery a haze developed due to, according to the surgeon, epithelial scarring.  The haze developed anywhere from 1-3 months after the surgery.  Following the most recent surgery on the right eye, I began using a locally compounded eye drop.  This drop is supposedly experimental and was prescribed due to the fact that I have a tendency to form keloid scar tissue.  Have you seen this occur in any other patients, and if so, what is being done as treatment?
If you have seen cases similar to this what is normally the prognosis and is there a limit to the number of times the surgery should be repeated?





Certainly it is known that some people may develop inflammation of the surface layers of the cornea in the postoperative period following PRK.  This may cause a haze in the vision as you described.  This may resolve spontaneously or you can treat this with topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as Acular or Voltaren.  Sometimes topical steroids may be used.  There is no hard rule as far as how many times PRK can be repeated, but giving your history of possible scarring of the cornea, I would be leary of repeating this procedure.  You may want to seek an additional opinion just to confirm that you are on the right course.  I would recommend a corneal specialist for this opinion.  Good luck.
This information was provided for medical educational purposes only.
Sincerely,
HFHS M.D.-JL




My question concerns the type of drop I was using after having had PRK in both
eyes for the third time. The drop I was on for six weeks, in conjunction with
Flour-Op, was a compound similar to Mytomycin - C. After developong a severe
reaction to the compound ( redness and irritation) my doctor told me to stop
the compound and only continue with the Flour-Op 2 times per day in each eye.
Do you know of any other treatments for corneal haze? Also, how long can one
use Flour-op steroid drops?