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Drops, Light Treatment Could Provide Cornea Cure

(KDKA) Thousands of patients each year have to have cornea transplants to restore their vision.

But a new, relatively simple procedure could change that with a couple drops in the eye, combined with some special light exposure.

Derek Green's vision started slipping a couple of years ago.

"In my left eye I have very degraded vision and I really can't see clearly out of that eye," said Green.

He has kerataconus.

"It's a disease in which the cornea, which is normally hemispherical, becomes cone-shaped because the center of the cornea thins and stretches and steepens," said Dr. Doyle Stulting. "And when that happens, the optical powers of the cornea are changed."

Typically, patients are given glasses or special contacts to help.

But ultimately, the best bet is a cornea transplant.

"Keratoconus is responsible for about 15 percent of the corneal transplants performed each year in this country, about 5,000," said Dr. Stulting.

That could soon change, thanks to a new procedure in clinical trials.

It's called riboflavin ultraviolet-light induced corneal collagen cross linking.

"It's a relatively simple concept," said Dr. Stulting. "Riboflavin is vitamin B2, we saturate the cornea with riboflavin by dropping it onto the cornea. We have to remove the thin layer of cells that covers the cornea in order to allow it to pass into the deep parts of the cornea."

The eye drops sit for 30 minutes.

"We then expose it to ultraviolet light for another thirty minutes," added Dr. Stulting.

It creates a chemical reaction that causes the cornea to stiffen.

A contact lens is put in place for a couple days to help the healing, and eyesight improves in a month.

The procedure was introduced outside the U.S. and clinical trials started here in January.

They're hoping to receive FDA approval within a year or two.

The clinical trial, called Collagen Cross-Linking with Riboflavin, or CXL, is enrolling patients at Emory Eye Center at this time; for more information please call 404-778-6155.

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