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Bringing Visibility to Keratoconus


Posted: 2022-07-21

Source: UCI Health Gavin Herbert Eye Institute Shine the Light
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During his fellowship at UCI Medical Center, Sumit (Sam) Garg, MD, brought his cousin from India to meet Roger Steinert, MD, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute’s founding director and Garg’s mentor. Due to keratoconus, a progressive condition that causes the cornea to thin and bulge outward into a cone shape, one of his cousin’s eyes didn’t function. The disease was so far along that a corneal transplant was the only treatment option, but he declined.

Keratoconus causes nearsightedness and irregular astigmatism, usually beginning when a person is in their late teens or early 20s and worsening over time. As a corneal specialist, Garg sees keratoconus patients every day. He is encouraged by treatment advancements that include scleral contact lenses and a minimally invasive procedure called corneal cross-linking, which works if the disease is caught early.

Corneal cross-linking uses a combination of eye drops of riboflavin, a type of vitamin B, and ultraviolet light to help strengthen the cornea’s collagen bonds and prevent further weakening.

“My goal as a cornea transplant specialist is to not need to do corneal transplants for keratoconus patients in the next 10 years,” says Garg. “If we can screen and cross-link enough people prior to the stage of needing a corneal transplant, then it’s possible.”

Garg believes the National Keratoconus Foundation (NKCF), an institute outreach program, will be instrumental in achieving that goal. NKCF works to raise awareness, screen at-risk patients and provide the latest information on treatments and clinical trials to people grappling with the diagnosis. Genetic screening for the disease, now done with a simple cheek swab, helps contribute to earlier detection.

“Studies have found that when keratoconus is caught early, a patient’s ability to live a more productive life is dramatically improved,” says Garg, whose cousin maintains a job today thanks to his one unaffected eye.

Garg is so passionate about the foundation’s mission that he and his wife, Romi, have become not just advocates but donors, too.

“Giving to the organization is fulfilling for me and my family,” he says, “because I see the impact that NKCF has on patients every day.”