EXPERIMENTAL MODIFICATION OF THE CORNEAL CURVATURE BY MEANS OF SCLERAL SURGERY

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  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 16  (12) , 1155-1166
Abstract
Most surgical procedures for correcting astigmatism are done on the cornea. The modification of the corneal curvature by scleral surgery was shown. The experiments were conducted on rabbit eyes. The most spherical eyes were chosen according to the keratometric measurements. A geometrical analysis of the astigmatism shows that beginning with an ellipse (image of an astigmatic eye in the corneascope), by modifying the main radii of the ellipse, while the perimeter is maintained constant a perfect circle is thus obtained. This analysis enables us to calculate the amount of sclera surgery required to obtain a given correction for a given degree of astigmatism. Four scleral procedures were investigated: folds, resections, imbrications and sclerotomies. The first 3 procedures steepen the meridian where the surgery is performed while flattening simultaneously the ortogonal meridian. The main advantages of scleral surgery vs. corneal surgery for correction of astigmatism are the following: the cornea remains untouched, the surgical area will be protected by the conjunctiva, the stitches are left permanently, and larger astigmatic errors can thus be corrected.

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