PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff LTK surgery
patient Jerry Whitford can finally see his watch clearly, a minute
after the rapid three-second procedure took place at the Jules
Stein Eye Institute. Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler (far
left) and Dr. Tommy Korn both look on in
expectation.
By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Reporter
UCLA’s Refractive Center took part in a procedural shift
in treating farsightedness from using hot needles a century ago to
applying lasers today.
The center, which is located at the Jules Stein Eye Institute,
recently made history, as it became the first to offer new
treatment for vision correction with those suffering from hyperopia
““ or having trouble with near vision.
The LTK Laser or Laser Thermal Keratoplasty, was recently
approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and costs $2,500
per eye. It is not the same as Lasik eye surgery, which treats
nearsightedness.
“There have not been any reports of any complications for
the LTK,” said Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, director of the UCLA
Laser Refractive Center.
Across the United States, physicians tested the laser treatment
in clinical trials and patients generally experienced improved
vision immediately after the procedure.
For Jerry Whitford, an electrician for the Center of Health
Sciences, the three second surgery proved to be one that would
change his life.
Before the surgery, Whitford complained of having to deal with
the hassle of switching to bifocal glasses because his occupation
required him to see up close and far at the same time.
The physician’s assistant administered a series of numbing
drops in preparation for the surgery.
During the surgery, the laser applied gentle heat to the cornea
to create a ring-like pattern. This process shrinks the eye’s
collagen and reshapes the cornea.
“The heat causes the tissue to change without touching or
cutting the eye,” Boxer Wachler said.
The origins of the procedure date back 100 years when in Europe,
doctors applied hot needles to the eye.
“The LTK has been available for 15 years now and has
finally just been refined,” Boxer Wachler said.
Shortly after the treatment, Whitford experienced a seemingly
instant change in his vision.
“I can see my watch more clearly and exactly what time it
is,” Whitford said after he was treated by the lasers.
“I feel good and I was surprised at how quick it
was.”
He felt no pain during the procedure, just a slight tingle.
But the effects of this seemingly flawless procedure are not
permanent.
Patients will begin to see a change in their vision by two
years, said Alpa Patel, comprehensive ophthalmologist of the Jules
Stein Eye Institute.
“After 10 to 11 years, there is no effect left,” she
said.
Hyperopia affects 77 million people and is the most common
refractive error for Americans. Those affected typically have
difficulty focusing on computer screens, applying makeup, cooking
or driving, she continued.
The condition occurs when the eye’s cornea is not steep
enough or when the eye is shorter than normal.
In addition to the hyperopia treatment, the Refractive Center
offers a number of laser surgery treatments including laser in situ
keratomileusis or Lasik. This procedure takes five minutes and
employs a laser beam to reshape the eye’s front surface. For
myopics, distance vision is blurry because the cornea bulges.
Complications can occur because it involves cutting the eye to
create a flap before the physician applies the laser. For example,
if the head is bumped the flap can dislodge, Boxer Wachler
said.
Another procedure, called Intacs treats mild
nearsightedness.
“Similar to LTK, the procedure is minimally
intrusive,” Boxer Wachler said.
Ring segments or “little pieces of plastic” are
placed in the cornea, he said. It takes the physician ten minutes
to put the micro prescription inserts into place.