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What Causes Corneal Thickness?

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Posted on Thu, 12 Feb 2015
Question: i had lasik laser in 2003 and my vision got corrected,
i got number back in my eye in 2009 or 2010 which has increased now to −1 spherical and 13 cylendrical in my left eye and −5 cylendrical in my right eye
i got corneal topogrpaphy done and my report says i ve post lasik ectasia in right eye and mild ectasia in left eye
i can see through my spectacles and lenses very clearly with my left eye and also with −5 number i can see good from my right eye...
now i am worried about progression of ectasia in my eye to the point that i become blind?
is it possible?
what can i do to avoid it?
should i get pentacam and corneal topography every 3 months to check?
my eye thickness is 450 and 460 microns today? is it really bad
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (47 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
This corneal thickness is not very bad, no need to be worried.

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Welcome to Health care Magic.

I am Dr. DADAPEER K, an Ophthalmologist and I will be answering your question.

I reviewed your history. It seems from the history that you have undergone lasik surgery following which you have developed ectasia of the corneas.
The right eye is affected more as the cylindrical power is more in the right eye.

The ectasia may progress or it may not progress also sometimes. The progression is monitored by Pentacam and corneal topography.
Hence you require to undergo these tests once in 3 months to check for the progression of the condition.
This condition will not lead to blindness as the treatment options are available. The treatment options are use of corneal collagen cross linking, intracorneal ring implantation, use of hard contact lenses, lamellar keratoplasty....

The eye thickness of 450 and 460 microns is not very bad. The normal thickness of the cornea is around 500 microns and in your case it slightly decreased. Hence no need to be worried. Do attend follow up with pentacam and depending on the progression the treatment can be planned.

Hope this is helpful to you.
Do write back to me for further questions.

Thank you
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (3 hours later)
my doctor told me to try hard cotact lens but if i can see properly with −5 number in my right eye do i need to use them?

can hard lens prevent more progression? and i hope hard lens will not further harm my cornea?

someone told me in krotonus progression never stops till cornea is useless?
is it same in ectasia or ectasia stops progressing after a while?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (6 hours later)
Brief Answer:
You need to use hard or rigid contact lenses.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thank you for the follow up question.

Hard or rigid contact lenses are required in the treatment of Keratoconus or corneal ectasia. This will improve the vision, hence these lenses are required. Hence you need to use them.
The hard lenses will not harm the cornea and they do prevent progression.

Both keratoconus and corneal ectasia following surgery will vary in their progression and not all vases progress. They will stop progression and show no further worsening as I have noticed in my practice.

Hence we require to look for progression of the condition before deciding on the treatment.

Hope this is helpful to you.
Do write back to me for further questions.

Thank you
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (2 days later)
hello doctor,

i tried using frequency soft lens and i can see very clearly with my both eye and i am comfortable ,
do i still need to use hard lens if i can see from soft lens?

secondly what caused more ectasia progression? and ca it be predicted how much more will it progress?

doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (21 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
You can use soft conntact lenses.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thank you for the follow up question.

If your vision is good and you are comfortable with soft lenses, then hard lenses are not required and you can continue use of soft lenses.

Corneal ectasia is because of thinning of cornea as a result of weakness caused by prior refractive laser surgery and wound healing.

It cannot predicted that how much it will progress now only, but with repeat orbscan after 6-12 months it can be predicted to some extent.

Hope this is helpful to you.
Do write back to me for further questions.

Thank you


Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (48 hours later)
Thanks sir

I got corneal topography just one or two days after stop using contact lens
Can it cause the topography results to be bad ?
As my friend told me to stop using contact lens at least one month before topography is it true ?
Can the results be more good or more bad if lens were used before topography test ?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (36 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Wearing contact lenses worsen the results of corneal topography.

Detailed Answer:
Hello

Thank you for the follow up question.

Wearing of contact lenses will affect the corneal topography. It can show bad results.
Hence corneal topography is not accurate if it is done after wearing of contact lenses.

I usually advice to stop wearing the contact lenses atleast for 2 weeks before performing the corneal topography.

Hope this is helpful to you.
Do write back to me for further questions.

Thank you

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (10 hours later)
thanks doctor

i did not understand , wearing contact lens will make my topography results go worse or it would actually affect the cornea of my eye and make it worse?

i hope wearing lenses ( hard or soft) dont harm cornea by any chance?

and what is stomal cornea thickness and does it differ from total thickness of cornea?
my cornea thickness is 460 microns , is my stromal bed thicknesss same or less?

also i want to know

i have dry eyes most of the time i hope gp lens wont cause any corneal abrasion in my eye?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (4 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Contact lenses will not affect the corneal thickness.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thank you for the follow up question.

I can understand your concerns and please find the responses to your questions as below.

Wearing of contact lens will alter the curvature and thus it will affect the corneal topography. But it will not affect the thickness of the cornea. Hence you can use the contact lenses but before going for corneal topography you need to discontinue them for atleast 2 weeks.

The thickness of cornea and stromal corneal thickness is same. Contact lenses will affect the thickness of the cornea.

If you have dry eyes then you need to use soft lenses or gas permeable lenses. This will not worsen the dry eye or cause corneal abrasion.

Hope I have answered your questions and these are helpful to you.

Do write back to me for further questions.

Thank you
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (5 hours later)
The thickness of cornea and stromal corneal thickness is same. Contact lenses will affect the thickness of the cornea

hello doctor

u said the above statement does it mean contact lens will temporarily affext the thickness or permanently cause thickness of cornea?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (39 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Contact lenses will not affect the corneal thickness.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thank you for the follow up question.


Contact lenses will not affect the corneal thickness either temporarily or permanently.
Contact lenses will only alter the corneal curvature and hence this will be shown in corneal topography.

Hence no need to be worried regarding the use of contact lenses and corneal thickness, you can use the contact lenses.

Hope I have cleared your doubts and answered your questions.

Thank you
With regards


Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (38 hours later)
I understand now

U mean contact lens will change the corneal curvature temporarily for 2 weeks and after stopping the use if contact lens for 2 weeks I can get corneal topography
For best results of for proper report of corneal topography
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (3 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Yes you are right.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thank you for the follow up question.

Yes you are right, contact lenses will not affect the corneal thickness.
Contact lenses will only alter the corneal curvature temporarily and before doing corneal topography wearing of contact lenses has to be discontinued for 2 weeks.

Thank you
With regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dadapeer K (19 hours later)
thanks doctor,

as for now with my new spectacles with −5.5 cylender in my right eye , i can see very clearly 6/6 , can i go for any treatment which can make my eye number to get stable or not increase?

is cylendrical number only caused by kerotoconus or corneal problems?

secondly what is the highest number available in cylendrical power?

i am just worried about getting blind and have an anxiety about corneal transplant as i read on internet that post lasik ectasia always ends up with corneal tranplantaion ....is it true?my apex thickness in right eye is 475 and thinnest point is 456

my apex thickness in left eye is 468 and thinnest point is 463

what does this mean?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dadapeer K (4 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Not all cases require corneal transplantation, hence no need to be worried.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thank you for the follow up questions.

I can understand your concerns but no need to be worried as your vision will not deteriorate fast and cause blindness.

Please find the responses to your questions as below.

1.Since your vision is good no treatment is required as of now. If the corneal thickness decreases further resulting in decrease in vision then you can go for corneal collagen crosslinking.

2. Cylindrical power is caused by problems involving cornea and lens. The commonest cause is keratoconus or ectasia of cornea.

3. Upto 10 dioptres of cylindrical power can be used.

4.It is not true that always corneal ectasia ends with cornealtransplantation. Most of the cases will not progress and corneal transplantation is required in cases of progression.

5.Apical thickness is thickness of cornea in centre of the cornea. Normally thickness of cornea is least in centre but in ectasia of cornea the thickness is least in the affected part. This is seen in your corneal topography. The values are fairly good no need to be worried.

Hope I have cleared your doubts and answered your questions.

Thank you
With regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Dadapeer K

Ophthalmologist

Practicing since :2003

Answered : 5709 Questions

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What Causes Corneal Thickness?

Brief Answer: This corneal thickness is not very bad, no need to be worried. Detailed Answer: Hello Welcome to Health care Magic. I am Dr. DADAPEER K, an Ophthalmologist and I will be answering your question. I reviewed your history. It seems from the history that you have undergone lasik surgery following which you have developed ectasia of the corneas. The right eye is affected more as the cylindrical power is more in the right eye. The ectasia may progress or it may not progress also sometimes. The progression is monitored by Pentacam and corneal topography. Hence you require to undergo these tests once in 3 months to check for the progression of the condition. This condition will not lead to blindness as the treatment options are available. The treatment options are use of corneal collagen cross linking, intracorneal ring implantation, use of hard contact lenses, lamellar keratoplasty.... The eye thickness of 450 and 460 microns is not very bad. The normal thickness of the cornea is around 500 microns and in your case it slightly decreased. Hence no need to be worried. Do attend follow up with pentacam and depending on the progression the treatment can be planned. Hope this is helpful to you. Do write back to me for further questions. Thank you