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From: harrison@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Peter Harrison%MIS)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: Re: Surgery to Correct Vision
Message-ID: <315@ucsfcgl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 30-Apr-84 20:51:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucsfcgl.315
Posted: Mon Apr 30 20:51:14 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 1-May-84 19:22:53 EDT
References: <107@loral.UUCP>
Organization: Computer Graphics Lab, San Francisco
Lines: 25

There are several surgical techniques for correcting refractive errors
in eyesight (ie you need glasses to see properly).  One of these is a
radial keratotomy which involves making multiple partial thickness
radial incisions in the cornea, thus changing its curvature.  This is a
highly skilled (ie it is by guess and by God, and the surgeon had better
have done a LOT of them already) and my reading of the literature is
that you may not have to wear coke bottle bottoms any more but you will
be lucky to have 20/20 without some correcting lenses, either spectacles
or contacts.  

The other technique I am not really familiar with involves taking a plug
of cornea (?cadaver cornea as in corneal transplants) and machining it
to be a new lens and implanting it into your original cornea a la
corneal grafts.

Both techniques are too new to be sure of long (5-10) year problems.  We
have no idea what the 20 year followup might be.  They involve surgery
of the cornea, and you WILL get scarring.  

One distressing note: in San Francisco, the magazine City Sports carries
a 3 by 4 ad for radial keratotomies, touting them as the wonder cure.  I
wonder if they really get "informed" consent for the procedure.

Peter Harrison
ucsfmis!harrison@ucbvax.ARPA