DALLAS -- September 28, 1998 -- When Richard Segars was growing up, kids would call him "Coke Bottle" -- a cruel reference to the thickness of his eyeglasses. As a teen-ager, he tried contact lenses, but an allergic reaction made them impossible to wear. Although Segars, now a 37-year-old sheriff's deputy, accepted the fact that glasses might always be a part of his permanent uniform, he never gave up hope that one day there would be an alternative.
That hope finally paid off, and Segars, the first patient to undergo a revolutionary laser treatment at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, now has sharp vision to prove it.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given ophthalmologists at the medical center approval to begin correcting moderate degrees of farsightedness accompanied by astigmatism with an excimer laser. UT Southwestern is one of only seven clinical research sites in the nation and one of the first to begin correcting the condition using this investigational outpatient procedure. Although UT Southwestern ophthalmologists have been using Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) laser to correct farsightedness (hyperopia) for several years, this is the first surgery of its kind to also treat astigmatism.
"This has been an incredible experience for me," said Segars. "I've always been behind glass. I assumed that the procedure would improve my vision and put an end to wearing glasses, but I never would've imagined what it feels like to look up at a clock on the wall or the bottom line of an eye chart and, for the first time, see it with my own eyes."
During the procedure -- which is currently being done at Zale Lipshy
University Hospital's Laser Center for Vision -- a cool beam of light gently
reshapes the surface of the cornea, thereby improving vision. Patients who
undergo the procedure may reduce or eliminate their dependence on corrective
lenses for distance vision, limiting the need for glasses or contacts.
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Contact: Rachel Donihoo
rachel.donihoo@email.swmed.edu
(214) 648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
28-Sep-1998