The Keratoconus Center
The Keratoconus Center is a multidisciplinary, patient-centered clinical center of excellence devoted to state of the art care for the patient with keratoconus and related corneal ectasias. Started in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, the philosophy of The Keratoconus Center has expanded to multiple locations around the US. The Keratoconus Center is a collaboration between like-minded optometrists and ophthalmologists that believe that the best care of keratoconic patients might involve both medical (contact lens) and surgical components. It is only then that the best outcomes for patients are achieved.
Treatment options for the keratoconus and keratoectasia (post-LASIK) patient have remained fairly stagnant over the past 30 years, since the advent of GP lenses and penetrating keratoplasty surgery. However, we are currently experiencing a renaissance in both the contact lens and surgical treatments of keratoconus. New design contact lenses are more comfortable and have better optical properties than GPs of the past. New surgical procedures are impacting the natural course of the disease and offering safer and more effective surgical interventions and in the majority of the cases now avoiding corneal transplantation all together. The multidisciplinary team of contact lens specialist and corneal surgeon offers a new continuum of care for the keratoconus patient involving both contact lens and surgical management.