Frequently asked questions

At the Keratoconus Group AGM meeting Mr Damian Lake (a consultant ophthalmologist, Corneal and Refractive Surgeon) presented on the different types of treatment available to those who suffer with Keratoconus,


Although I've had CXL and 4 years down the line my eyes still appear to be stable, attending the meeting and listening to the presentation made me feel more relaxed in case I need further treatment in the future.


I feel that the questions asked would be frequently asked by others who suffer and would be good to publish.


Please see below the questions asked and responses from Mr Damian Lake:

• How long will CXL treatment work for? There is insufficient evidence to answer this at present, but when we looked at our figures only 8% of people required crosslinking within 5 years. I would say for most keratoconus, it is a one time treatment.
• Can CXL treatment be repeated, if so how many times? Yes cross linking can be repeated, there is no reason it could not be repeated multiple times provided that there is sufficient corneal thickness.
• What other treatments are available? We also provide intracorneal ring placement with femtosecond laser channel creation, femtosecond laser anterior lamellar cornea graft, femtosecond grafts and phakic intraocular lenses (implantable contact lens, artisan lens) and in some cases pinhole intraocular lenses.
• Are there risks to these treatments? Yes all treatments have risks, including visual loss, infection, failure. The relative risk will depend upon the treatment and the patients circumstance.
• Can astigmatism be improved? Yes there are various methods to improve astigmatism. The treatment selected would depend upon whether the astigmatism is regular or irregular, and its magnitude. For low level astigmatism, excimer laser combined with CXL maybe an option. Higher levels may require combination treatments and will vary case by case.