The laser thermal keratoplasty which is
also known by the name of LTK is a surgical procedure which utilizes a YAG
laser to correct farsightedness through the reshaping of the cornea. This is a
non contact procedure in which nothing makes contact with the eye other than
the beam of light being emitted from the laser. This procedure is done in a
manner to reshape the cornea through the shrinking of the collagen in the
outermost area of the retina. The heat from the laser is used to perform this
shrinking.
Initially approved for the treatment of
mild hyperopia and for those who are more than 40years old and have
astigmatism, it is now considered to be only a temporary correction. One of the
downfalls though is that the vision has a tendency to drift back towards its
original problem as the retina attempt to return to its original shape. For
this reason the procedure is considered to be temporary even though this occurs
in rather few patients.
For those who have a mild case of
farsightedness or even for those who have presbyopia, LTK can help to correct
the vision loss. The ultimate goal for any vision corrective procedure is to remove
the need for persons to continue wearing glasses and in the case of LTK, 85% of
all patients are likely to regain vision of 20/40 or better while 37.4% are
able to attain 20/20 vision. Furthermore in comparison to popular treatments
such as LASIK, there is a lower chance of incident with only 1% of all LTK
patients having any form of adverse affects.
This procedure takes a whole 3 seconds to
perform on each eye and therefore there is also absolutely no recovery time
associated with it. The procedure is very fast and efficient with the average
patient only remembering a quick flash and compressed air. When the procedure
is completed, the eyes may be a bit dilated as a result of the eye drops used,
but once the dilation returns to normal the patient will have their
farsightedness corrected. Keep in mind though that the potential for the retina
to return to its original contour still exists and while the vast majority of
patients will never have to deal with this complication, there are some that
have.
