1/ Definition
Hyperopia or farsightedness occurs if the eyeball is shorter and/or if the cornea has too little curvature. As a result, the light becomes focused behind the retina. Hyperopia triggers a visual fatigue and a decrease in near vision, and finally a decrease in both near and far vision.
This explains why for many patients, moderate hyperopia does not prove troublesome until they reach their forties, when the accommodation – or focusing ability – begins to decline. Simultaneous surgical correction of concomitant presbyopia can be done if necessary
Several surgical procedures are available.
Hyperpopia
Focusing oh light behind the retina (right arrow)
2/ LASIK (Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis)
LASIK is a mixed technique combining two lasers, a femtosecond laser followed by an excimer laser.
3/ PRK (Photo Refractive Keratectomy)
The procedure is quite the same but instead of creating a flap inside the cornea, the excimer beam energy is delivered on top of the corneal surface after its superficial layer (epithelium) has been peeled.
4/ INTRA OCULAR LENSES
High-degree hyperopia can be treated with the use of intraocular implants. The procedure consists in placing an additional lens either inside the eye in front of the human lens or after the latter’s extraction in order to correct the refractive error. The power of the implant is chosen based on the desired correction, and the accuracy of the result is excellent. Both the size and power of the implant are determined on a customized basis, depending on the preoperative measurements.
The procedure is performed under local anaesthesia (by drops) in an outpatient facility, and rarely exceeds one hour for both eyes. The visual recovery is very fast, as LASIK, rarely exceeding 24 hours, and allows the patient to resume a normal life the day after surgery. The advantage of this technique is also its reversibility, along with the possibility of resorting, if required, to another type of surgery several years down the road.
Hyperopia: VIDEO
Pre and post-operative topographies
Pre-operative topographie
Post-operative topographie
