13Sep/111
I would like to know how much is the cost of a Keratoconus laser surgery and/or Teratoconus cornia transplant?
I found out my friend has the condition and my parents are well, wealthy and agreed to pay for it, but left me to do all the research =D anyone out there than can help to make this happen?
September 13th, 2011 - 06:44
Keratoconus laser surgery doesn’t really exist. It is a degenerative disease of the cornea. As such there is no ‘laser’ correction for the disease.
The latest treatment still not approved by the FDA in the US is CXL, or corneal cross linking. This is using riboflavin drops in the eyes, usually with the epi-off, and activated with special UV-A lamps/lights. I believe privately funded this can be a few thousand dollars. (This is used to halt the progression of the disease, it does not ‘fix’ it. — and there are no gaurantees).
Otherwise, surgically, you have a corneal transplant when the cornea becomes so thin and distorted that eyesight cannot be corrected adequately with various types of custom contact lenses. When this occurs (statistics are something like 20% of keratoconus patients will need a transplant) — a corneal transplant is performed.
The average cost of such a transplant is going to be roughly 7-10 thousand dollars.
Teratoconus is nothing I have ever heard of?
Good luck,