Prema Padmanabhan1, R Aiswaryah, V Abinaya Priya. 1. Department of Cornea & Refractive Surgery, Medical & Vision Research Foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India. drpp@snmail.org
Abstract
PURPOSE: To report a case of unilateral post-laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) keratectasia in a 35-year-old woman who had no known predisposing risk factors but who rubbed her affected eye frequently and vigorously in response to allergic conjunctivitis. METHODS: Case report with relevant literature review. RESULTS: A 35-year-old woman, with a cumulative risk scale score of 0 (according to the Randleman criteria), who underwent bilateral LASIK developed unilateral post-LASIK keratectasia 32 months later. She presented with a history of vigorous eye rubbing of the affected eye since about a year after allergic conjunctivitis. The fellow eye, which was not rubbed, remained normal. She complained of glare, halos, and ghost images in her affected eye. She underwent transepithelial topography-guided customized ablation with simultaneous UV-A corneal collagen cross-linking, after which she improved symptomatically and topographically. CONCLUSIONS: Eye rubbing could contribute to the development of keratectasia, even in an eye that has no subclinical features of the disease. When detected early, a simultaneous combined topography-guided customized ablation treatment and collagen cross-linking is effective in improving the irregular corneal contour and restoring biomechanical stability.
PURPOSE: To report a case of unilateral post-laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) keratectasia in a 35-year-old woman who had no known predisposing risk factors but who rubbed her affected eye frequently and vigorously in response to allergic conjunctivitis. METHODS: Case report with relevant literature review. RESULTS: A 35-year-old woman, with a cumulative risk scale score of 0 (according to the Randleman criteria), who underwent bilateral LASIK developed unilateral post-LASIK keratectasia 32 months later. She presented with a history of vigorous eye rubbing of the affected eye since about a year after allergic conjunctivitis. The fellow eye, which was not rubbed, remained normal. She complained of glare, halos, and ghost images in her affected eye. She underwent transepithelial topography-guided customized ablation with simultaneous UV-A corneal collagen cross-linking, after which she improved symptomatically and topographically. CONCLUSIONS: Eye rubbing could contribute to the development of keratectasia, even in an eye that has no subclinical features of the disease. When detected early, a simultaneous combined topography-guided customized ablation treatment and collagen cross-linking is effective in improving the irregular corneal contour and restoring biomechanical stability.