If you have keratoconus (KC) or the related keratoglobus or pellucid marginal degeneration (PMD), you need to see a cornea specialist. This is an ophthalmologist or eye surgeon, who is not only a MD, but also did an extra 1 or 2 year Fellowship in Cornea (and maybe also Refractive Surgery). You need to see a true specialist who has extra extensive training to diagnose and treat cornea problems–not just a general ophthalmologist, and certainly not an optometrist or OD (who does not go to medical school, is not a MD, cannot operate, and typically works at someplace like a Lenscrafters prescribing glasses and contacts and performing simple basic annual eye exams in healthy people).
When Dr. Chynn completed medical school at Columbia University in New York City, the only treatment for these diseases was “watchful waiting” for decades, watching these diseases progress, until a corneal transplant would be required. But by the time Dr. Chynn was completing his Residency in Ophthalmology at Harvard University in Boston, the excimer laser was FDA-approved (it had been invented by 2 of his mentors at Columbia) for laser vision correction, and by the time he was completing his Fellowship in Cornea & Refractive Surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, eye surgeons had started to use the laser to treat very mild cases of KC and PMD.
It wasn’t until 2016, however, that cornea cross-linking, or CXL was approved by the FDA to treat keratoconus (and could also be used to treat the related keratoglobus and PMD). Dr. Chynn had already been performing CXL for 5 years prior to FDA approval, under a special IRB, which is a legal route for advanced practitioners to conduct research before formal FDA approval (sometimes FDA even uses this “pre-approval data” in their decision to approve a procedure).
Dr. Chynn and Park Avenue LASEK have more years experience performing CXL for KC and PMD and other related diseases than almost any other center, both private or public (e.g. a hospital or medical center or university) in the tri-state region. They have performed more cases of CXL for KC than New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, with over 300 eye MDs on staff. They also are the only center in New York to combine LASEK with CXL, so rather than only stabilize the cornea and prevent progression of KC so a corneal transplant is needed, they can reduce or even sometimes eliminate your entire prescription including astigmatism, so you see much better afterwards (which is the patients’ goal, not just “stability”). At a minimum, you will be able to go from needing to use RGPs to being able to use a regular, more comfortable, cheaper soft contact lens. But in some cases, patients with even advanced KC after CXL + LASEK have been able to see clearly and be legal to drive without glasses or contacts at all.
If interested, please call our office for an appointment. The cost of the initial evaluation is $500, but is often mostly or fully covered by medical insurance, almost all forms of which Park Avenue LASEK accepts, and Dr. Chynn is credentialed to accept.
If you have only seen an optometrist (OD) or general eye doctor (ophthalmologist), and not a fellowship-trained cornea/refractive surgeon, please understand that you do not have a firm diagnosis, and have not been given a fully informed, professional treatment plan. You must see a cornea specialist like Dr. Chynn if anyone has told you that you have a cornea problem.
