Is presbyopia the newest specialty?
The presbyopia landscape is crowded today with innovations to treat this condition, including corneal procedures, pharmacologic treatments, scleral procedures, and phakic and intraocular (IOL) lenses, according to Karolinne Maia Rocha, MD, PhD, director of cornea and refractive surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Corneal procedures
Procedures that are coming down the pike include focal denaturization of collagen fibers that involves use of a femtosecond laser to change the corneal refractive index (laser-induced refractive index change).
Another option is lenticular intrastromal keratoplasty, which uses a precut, donor stromal lenticule that is inserted either under a femtosecond flap or in a pocket.
Corneal inlays/onlays, presbyopic excimer laser ablation profiles, and modified monovision are also available.
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Presbyopia is defined as the eye’s loss of ability to focus on objects at near distances, and it is the most common cause of age-related vision impairment. Presbyopia is a significant global health issue that is underdiagnosed. It affects all people in their 40s and older: an estimated 90 million people in the United States …
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What other future treatments have promise? Laser scleral microporation is under investigation as a laser treatment for patients with emmetropic presbyopia. Four quadrants of the sclera are treated with an Er:YAG laser to uncrosslink the sclera and rejuvenate the accommodative mechanism (see video demonstration below). Treatment does not appear to affect the visual axis or …
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DUE TO THE AGING OF THE population, most of our population will spend roughly half of their lives as presby-opes. The etiology of presby-opia has been poorly understood, and treatment options have failed to address the true issues with the disease, creating compro mises in vision that patients are eager to find a solution for, …
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