lisse (01/27/83)
I have received several responses to my request for information about corrective surgery for Myopia (near-sightedness) and they are very interesting. It seems that there is general agreement over the method used in the surgery but very little agreement on the effectiveness, cost, availability, etc. I get the impression of a lack of communication in the United States or world medical community. However, here are the results; judge for yourselves: Rich Strebendt writes that he consulted with a doctor at the Wheaton Eye Clinic in Wheaton Illinois about the operation. He was told that the operation is available but that it provides minimal correction and is used only in cases of mild myopia. Since his myopia was advanced to a point that he would require continued use of glasses, his doctor advised against it and he followed the advice. Nanak Shukla (told me in person) that he has approached his opthalmologist seeking the operation and was told that the operation is used only in severe cases of myopia and that he was advised against it. Nanak does not have a mild case of myopia. Tim Maroney wrote that the procedure is call "Radial-K" surgery. It was discovered by accident in the Soviet Union when a teenaged boy received glass cuts of the eye and his vision was tremendously improved. He doubts that the procedure is available because the long term effects are not known. He also wrote of another procedure in which the cornea is actually removed from the eye, frozen, lathed to proper shape, and re-implanted. (Editor's note: I am not entirely sure, but I think that this is a surgical procedure for cataracts rather than correction of myopia). Steven L Wagner submitted an article describing his brother's experience with the procedure called "radial-keratotomy" (the Radial-K above). To summarize, there are two versions, an old and a new. Each eye is done separately (to heal in the meantime). His brother has one eye with 16 slits (the old method) and one eye with the new (8 slits). There was a great increase in visual acuity. There are no visible side-effects, but his brother can notice the scars if he looks at the right thing. The eye is considered potentially more fragile after this procedure. Each eye cost about 1-1.5 K$. Finally, Mary Hauck write that she thought the procedure was not allowed in the U.S. Those are the replys, so far. Personally, it sounds to me as if there is an available procedure in the U.S. for correcting myopia but the long-term effects are not known. Possibly, the differing opinions and recommendations of doctors reflects the uncertainty of the procedure. I did note in the responses to this question that near-sighted people (myself included) seem to be hoping and praying for a miraculous procedure and rid themselves of the handicap of glasses, contacts, and even, imperfect vision even with aids. The encouraging sign is that medical science is actively seeking relief with research such as the "Radial-K" procedure. Steve Purduski Bell Laboratories Naperville, Il.