How PROSE Restored a Patient’s Sight

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Courtesy of the University of Southern California. The original article appears in Medical Express 

Three years ago, an outside clinic diagnosed Maria Contreras with keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease that causes thinning and bulging of the cornea. Though the clinic followed her for years, Maria saw no improvement in her vision and continued to suffer from poorly corrected irregular astigmatism, a lack of depth perception, and significantly decreased vision in both eyes. Her deteriorating vision was affecting her daily activities, especially at night. She was even told by her doctor that she might have to give up her driver’s license.

“Eventually, I knew their treatment wasn’t working and I needed to do my own research,” Maria said. “There had to be other options for me.”

A friend, who’d received treatment for a similar condition at the USC Roski Eye Institute, recommended that Maria schedule a consultation with Dr. Gloria Chiu. Dr. Chiu is an optometrist who focuses on prescribing specialty contact lenses for various eye conditions, including keratoconus. Although the prevalence of the eye disease ranges from about 1-4% globally, a high volume of patients who seek care and treatment from Dr. Chiu have this condition.

With Maria’s diagnosis established, Dr. Chiu learned that Maria had only been prescribed glasses to correct her vision. “This surprised me because for many keratoconus patients, glasses don’t work adequately once the condition becomes more advanced and the eye shape has become distorted,” said Dr. Chiu. “This is when specialty contact lenses or scleral lenses are required to best correct the vision.”

Dr. Chiu at first fitted Maria with rigid gas permeable (RGP) contacts, and although Maria’s vision improved, she remarked that the bulky lenses were uncomfortable. “I felt like I had an eyelash stuck in my eye,” Maria recalled.

Dr. Chiu then presented Maria with another option, PROSE treatment. PROSE (or: Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem) utilizes a special software program to create scleral devices that are customized to match the unique contour of a patient’s eye.

“The moment I put them on, I started to cry,” Maria said. “I knew this was something amazing.”

Read the full article and learn how PROSE helped Maria at Medical Express here.

 

 

BostonSight Board Member, Kate Weingarten, Receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Westchester Children’s Association

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On June 3, BostonSight Board Member Kate Weingarten was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Westchester Children’s Association (WCA). She has been passionate aboutKate Weingarten headshot helping children and youth in the Westchester community for decades. As a longtime member of the WCA board, she helped the organization build a solid foundation that allowed WCA’s leaders the flexibility necessary to create an effective and visible advocacy program for Westchester’s kids. She played an instrumental role in starting Keeps, an afterschool program for K-6 grade students in Mamaroneck that still supports children in the area. She recognized that having a safe haven for children was essential with so many parents in the workplace.

“Kate has been an outstanding supporter of WCA; I can recall her going the extra mile in our advocacy work to help improve the County’s Invest in Kids funding process,” said Ann Umemoto, Board Chair. 

This year’s WCA honorees also included Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton with the Edith C. Macy Award for Distinguished Service; and Greater Hudson Valley (NY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated and Westchester County (NY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated with the Children’s Champion Awards.  

Kate is an avid volunteer and supporter of BostonSight. She has been a BostonSight patient since 1994 and joined the BostonSight Board in 2013 where she serves as Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee and as a member of the Finance and Audit Committee, helping to provide strategic direction on the financial health of the organization. She is also a long-time supporter of BostonSight’s fundraising efforts as well as being a regular donor.  

The BostonSight Board of Directors and staff congratulate Kate on this outstanding award.  

Research Indicates Alcohol Consumption Affects Dry Eye

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BostonSight® PROSE patients with dry eye are advised to follow home-care strategies in addition to their medically prescribed treatment plans to alleviate symptoms. Some of these self-care treatment protocols include taking frequent breaks from computer time, increasing humidity in the home or workplace, and protecting the eyes from wind and sun. Another key component is staying hydrated, which includes limiting diuretics, substances that reduce the amount of fluid in the body. Alcohol is considered a diuretic and thus it is often recommended to limit or avoid alcohol consumption to prevent dry eye symptoms.

Research

Oral alcohol administration disturbs tear film and ocular surface

Researchers at the Hallym University College of Medicine in Seoul, Korea, conducted a small study to look at the effects of alcohol on tear film and ocular surface. Half of the study subjects consumed alcohol while the other half abstained. In the group that consumed alcohol, researchers noted tear film break-up time (TBUT) was significantly greater. In addition, ethanol was secreted into the tears which induced hyperosmolarity, a condition in which greater concentrations of proteins and electrolytes are found in the tears. Hyperosmoloarity is an indicator of ocular dryness and a feature considered common to dry eye disease. Hyperosmolarity can cause the outer layer of the eye’s surface (the epithelium) to become damaged, resulting in exacerbating dry eye issues including blurry vision, discomfort, inflammation, and redness. Based on these study results, the researchers concluded that these changes could worsen dry eye symptoms in patients with ocular surface conditions. Alcohol Consumption and dry eye syndrome: a Meta-analysis In this study that appeared in the International Journal of Ophthalmology, the authors concluded that “the pooled results of the 10 involved studies from 8 articles showed that alcohol consumption could increase the risk of DES [dry eye symptoms]. For heavy drinkers, peripheral neuropathy caused by alcohol consumption may decrease their corneal sensitivity, and the real severity of DES tends to be underestimated, which should draw the attention of ophthalmologists. For any disease, the key point is to cure the disease by understanding and addressing the underlying source. Our findings indicate that controlling alcohol consumption may help to reduce DES prevalence.” This post is part of BostonSight’s archival content and was originally authored by Janice M. Epstein in 2015. Content has been updated to be current.  This content is informational in nature and should not be considered medical advice. Please reach out to your medical professional for questions about your vision.