Degenerative Myopia and Staphyloma

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Question:
My 19-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with 2200/2400 vision due to degenerative myopia and posterior staphlyoma in both eyes. She is seeing a low vision specialist for glasses, but we're told there could be surgical options but not until early to mid-20s. Why wait? How do we keep this from getting worse?     

Answer:
Unfortunately, this can be seen in very nearsighted eyes and there is no known cure or preventative that we know of. The most recently approved aid is what is called an implantable telescope, which is a lens implant much like one we use for cataract surgery but is larger and has much more magnifying ability. I would seek out a retina specialist in your area that can refer her for this if he thinks that it will be helpful.

Answered by: Jeffrey Whitman, MD

Categories: Eye Diseases, Eye Surgery

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