“A young man came into my office with a painful red eye after leaving his warehouse job.  He had been using a staple gun to attach labels to crates.  I expected a simple scratch on the cornea, but instead was shocked to see a portion of the staple had lodged itself deeply in his eyeball.”

Upon further questioning the young man revealed that he believes the staple hit something buried in the wood of the crate, and the staple ricocheted back into his eye.

“Upon examination, I was able to see that one of the tines of the staple had broken off and shot back into the eye, piercing it like a mini spear.  Because of the high velocity it easily ripped through his cornea and iris (the colored part of the eye)”, continued Dr. Henahan.

“I was fearful that if I attempted to extract the staple that it would further damage the sensitive inside of the eye.  I referred him to a specialist in Atlanta who performed emergency surgery to remove the staple.”

Often in these cases, the sensitive film in the back of the eye (called the retina) or other eye tissues are irreparably harmed often resulting in blindness, and even loss of the eye.

Luckily for this young man, the specialist, Dr. Evan Loft of Eye Consultants of Atlanta, was able to carefully extract the object with no apparent permanent damage.  “The patient may require a second surgery if the lens inside the eye becomes cloudy with a traumatic cataract, but even then he should have a full visual recovery”, reported Dr. Loft.

Dr. Loft that he sees up to 10 patients per year with a penetrating eye injury.  “He is just one specialist of the many in Atlanta”, reminds Dr. Henahan.  That means in Atlanta alone, there are hundreds of such injuries per year, often with much worse outcomes.

When using any type of power tool or even a tool that strikes with force (such as a hammer), always wear safety glasses.

Dr. John Henahan has practiced for 20 years and has been living and practicing in Peachtree City since 1999.  If you would like to contact Dr. Henahan or make an appointment you can call 770-487-0667 or contact us here.

#1 Protect the future of your vision.  Vision loss is a leading cause of disability in older Americans.  By simply having an eye examination periodically, you can ensure that any eye health issues can be addressed before the problem becomes irreversible.  Remember, even if you don’t have vision insurance, a medically focused eye exam can usually be billed through your medical insurance. Proper nutrition is also a foundation for a lifetime of good vision.

#2 Wear Sunglasses. Quality polarized sunglasses with UV protection can cut the risk of cataracts, macular degeneration and even reduce the risk of skin cancers around the eyes.  Additionally, up to 30% of auto accidents are associated with glare induced vision impairment.  Polarized sunglasses are far more effective at cutting dangerous glare than tinted lenses alone when driving.  Polarized sunglasses are available with and without prescription lenses.

#3 Stop sleeping in your Contact Lenses. Study after study have shown that sleeping in contact lenses is the number one risk factor for serious complications from contact lenses including a potentially blinding eye infection called a corneal ulcer.  Even if your contact lenses are approved for extended wear, it is much safer to remove them at night.

#4 Throw Away those Contact Lenses (and that Contact Lens Case). After extended wear, keeping contact lenses for too long is the major risk for the aforementioned eye infections.  Most contact lenses are meant to be thrown away every two – four weeks.  As your contact lens ages, it is less able to provide enough oxygen to the surface of the eye.  This oxygen starvation can damage the surface of the eye.  Also, have you looked at your contact lens case lately?  Older cases are breeding grounds for bacteria.  Each time you buy a new bottle of solution, get a new case (some companies even bundle cases with large solution bottles).

#5 Resolve to give up your reading glasses. Are you a reading glasses addict? Do you have pairs spread around the house, car and office?  Always running around looking for a pair when your phone rings, when you need to read a menu, recipe or  to check your Facebook status?  There is a better way.  With a new generation of High-definition bifocal contact lenses and eyeglasses you can have good vision all the time; far away, close up and in between.  Imagine, no more taking on and off readers all day.

Whatever else you may do, Dr. Henahan recommends you resolve to see the best in yourself, others and the world around you.  Now that is a resolution we can all agree on!

Dr. John Henahan is a fellowship trained doctor of optometry practicing and living in Peachtree City with his wife and two sons.  You may call his office at 770 487-0667 or visit him on the web at www.speceye.com.

Los Angeles Times (8/25, Maugh) reported that, according to a study (pdf) published online Aug. 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine, “researchers have a identified a faulty gene that is the major cause of Fuchs’ corneal dystrophy (FCD), which affects an estimated 5% of Americans over the age of 40″ and “can ultimately cause blindness by blocking the transmission of light through the cornea.”

For the study, researchers “analyzed the genomes of 280 people with Fuchs and 410 people without the disease,”HealthDay (8/25, Phillips) reported. “They found that people with particular versions of a gene called transcription factor 4 (TCF4) were much more likely to develop FCD.” Specifically, “people with one copy of a high-risk version of TCF4 were five times more likely to develop FCD as were people without one of these versions; those with two copies were 30 times as likely to develop the disease.”

MedPage Today (8/25, Smith) reported that “a second region in the gene encoding protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type G…also appeared to be associated with the disorder, but the association did not reach a preset level for genome-wide significance of P=5×10-8.” An accompanying editorial (pdf) suggested that “once the true causal variants have been pinned down, ‘a clinically useful predictive test may be on the horizon.’”

The UK’s Daily Mail (8/26), the UK’s Telegraph (8/26), the UK’s Press Association (8/26), and Reuters (8/26, Kelland) also cover the story.

This is very exciting news for the millions of patients suffering from this condition.  Currently the only treatment are highly concentrated salt drops and a corneal transplant surgery, in which a donor cornea is sewn into the eye to replace the patients own, faulty cornea.  We would hope to see to some new treatments developed based upon this breakthrough research.

At Spectrum Eyecare in Peachtree City, Dr. Henahan continually strives to stay on the cutting edge of diagnosing and treating eye diseases, and providing the most advanced contact lenses and next generation digital eyeglasses lenses.  Just click here to contact Spectrum Eyecare or call 770-487-0667.

]]> http://speceye.com/cause-of-fuchs-corneal-dystrophy-discovered/feed/ 0 http://speceye.com/keratoconus-treatment-study-underway-in-atlanta/ http://speceye.com/keratoconus-treatment-study-underway-in-atlanta/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:25:46 +0000 drhenahan http://speceye.com/?p=516

A new Keratoconus treatment called corneal crosslinking shows great promise in the treatment of this visual condition, according to Dr. John Henahan of Spectrum Eyecare in Peachtree City.

Keratoconus is a progressive condition that results in poor vision and usually requires a person to wear uncomfortable hard contact lenses for any degree of visual clarity.

To understand this condition it is helpful to think of the eye as being like a camera. The main focusing lens of the eye is called the cornea. For most of us, the cornea is a smooth regular shape, much like a nice camera lens. For patients with keratoconus, the cornea is weak and develops a bulge just below center that results in a distorted image being transmitted through the eye. As a result, everything looks blurry. Even worse, regular glasses and soft contact lenses do not provide adequate clarity. The only option has been wearing hard contact lenses, or in advanced cases, surgery. Both have substantial drawbacks. Hard contact lenses are less comfortable and can result in corneal scarring in some patients. Corneal transplant surgery is a major operation that takes many months to recover from, as well as carrying the risk of transplant rejection and infection.

At Spectrum Eyecare in Peachtree City, Dr. Henahan is collaborating with Doyle Stulting, MD, PhD to enroll patients in this exciting study that has shown excellent results in stabilizing and often improving the bulging of the cornea in patients with keratoconus.  Dr. Stulting has joined with Woolfson Eye Institute in a unique collaboration of academic research and private practice service to expand the reach of this exciting study.

Corneal cross-linking is a non-invasive treatment using riboflavin and a special type of ultra-violet light to stimulate the cornea into strengthening itself.  As the cornea strengthens itself, it resists (and in some cases begins to reverse) the bulge that forms in due to the weakness inherent in the cornea in patients with keratoconus.

To be eligible for the study, the patient must have keratoconus without significant corneal scarring.  If you or a loved one suffer from keratoconus, I urge you to contact us or Dr. Stulting to be evaluated for potential inclusion in this study. I you live outside the metro- Atlanta area, this article has a list of participating centers.