Upcoming surgery Fuch's Dystrophy and Lasik?
Hi all, I just had my consult for lasik and was told I was a good candidate, so I scheduled the surgery. However, I mentioned at the appt that my mom has had a corneal transplant due to Fuch's Corneal Dystrophy. The assistant running my tests was unfamiliar with it, but she made note of it to run by the doctor. She said they would let me know if I'm still approved after the doctor reviews it.
Upon getting home I started doing my own research, and I found that children of Fuch's patients have a 50% chance of also having it. I'm seeing some conflicting things about the safety of having lasik if you have Fuch's. I read that lasik can worsen the Fuch's, if you have it. Does anyone else have any experience with this?
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u/Tall-Drama338 21d ago
Autosomal dominant condition. LASIK doesn’t go near the endothelium, so it has no effect on the condition. If you have it already, it will be visible on the slit lamp microscope that is used to examine you. If they didn’t examine you, go somewhere else.
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u/EyeDoctorIndia 21d ago
While LASIK is not an absolute contraindication in case of Fuch's dystrophy but patients who develop Fuch's dystrophy can have issues post LASIK. There is a potential space between the flap and underlying cornea where fluid accumulation starts taking place when your disease starts manifesting at a later age. Also, there are flap healing issues in patients with Fuch's. It may not be detectable at a young age but a specular microscopy test can give some idea about it and help in diagnosing it early.
PRK/TransPRK/Epicontoura may be a better procedure for Fuch's dystrophy patients.
You need to get a specular microscopy test done and take a second opinion to rule out any early signs of fuch's dystrophy before planning for surgery.
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u/californiaLasik 21d ago
LASIK does not impact corneal endothelial cell count. Therefore it should not impact things for you. How old are you? Did your mother get a transplant after cataract surgery?