On September 13, 2022 Dr. Raed Alomair of Elite Hospital in Riyadh performed the first KeraKlear surgery in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Using the most advanced eye surgical tools available in the world, he used a femtosecond laser to make microscopic incisions in the cornea of a patient and implanted the KeraKlear Artificial Cornea for the treatment of a dense central corneal scar without the use of corneal transplant tissue. This state of the art method has the benefits of avoiding immunologic rejection and glaucoma which are two common complications of human tissue cornea transplants. Moreover, the device can be implanted without penetrating the interior of the eye which greatly diminishes the risk of serious infection. The device is approved in Europe and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the treatment of cornea blindness.
Pre-Operatively the patient had a history of amblyopia and a dense central corneal scar that was limiting her vision. This can be seen in the view through the surgical microscope of the Schwind Excimer Laser.
This scar caused a very high degree of corneal steepening and astigmatism which is shown on her topography
OCT imaging showed that the depth of the corneal scar was about 288 microns.
Dr. Alomair uses a Johnson and Johnson Intralase iFS laser to create the incisions needed to place the KeraKlear Artificial Cornea and to remove the corneal scar.
Immediately post-operatively the central cornea of the patient can be seen to be clear of the scar.
On post-operative day 1, the patient’s cornea was markedly clearer and the patient was able to notice improvement in vision.
Dr. Alomair and his team were impressed with the result of the KeraKlear surgery and said Inshallah (Allah willing), many people in Saudi Arabia will benefit from this new technology. Dr. Alomair is shown on the right and Dr. Shiuey, inventor of the KeraKlear, is shown on the left.
