Cataract & Refractive Lens Surgery
Cataracts Chicago | Refractive Lens Exchange | Tecnis IOL | ReSTOR® | Crystalens
Cataracts
Imagine what your vision would be like if your eyes were covered by a sheet of wax paper. For millions of Americans with cataracts, this is how their world appears every day. Dull colors, blurry images - it is as if a film needs to be removed from the eyes to restore clear vision. Chicago Cornea Consultants uses only the latest technology and techniques for the correction of cataracts, maximizing both comfort and results for you, the patient.
What Are Cataracts?
Cataracts are a clouding or discoloring of the normally clear lens of the eye. Cataracts are a natural part of the aging process, caused from years of exposure to sunlight. The clouded lens distorts and blocks the passage of light through the eye to the retina, causing vision to be dull, blurred, and indistinct. While cataracts can affect people of any age, they are most common in older adults. In fact, two-thirds of all adults over age 60 have some sign of cataracts.
When is the right time to have your cataracts corrected? As soon as they begin to impair your quality of life. Today, surgery to repair cataracts is one of the most common procedures performed in the United States. Statistically, you are more likely than not to develop cataracts sometime in your life. If you suspect you may be developing cataracts, contact Chicago Cornea Consultants immediately to schedule a comprehensive eye exam.
Refractive Lens Exchange
Traditionally, presbyopia, which happens to all of us as we age, has always meant glasses for clear reading vision. It’s a condition not even correctable by laser vision correction. Luckily, there is an option - refractive lens exchange. Refractive lens exchange is allowing patients a clear alternative to reading glasses and is capable of reducing or eliminating presbyopia by using an advanced multifocal intraocular lens. Here at Chicago Cornea Consultants, we use AMO Tecnis, Alcon ReSTOR, as well as the Eyeonics Crystalens™, which replaces the eye's natural lens during refractive lens exchange.
While LASIK concentrates on correcting the cornea, refractive lens exchange replaces the natural lens of your eye with an advanced multifocal or accommodating intraocular lens (IOL), allowing clear vision up close, far away, and in between. Additionally, patients undergoing the refractive lens exchange procedure will never have to worry about cataracts as they age, since the advanced refractive lens exchange lens will remain clear.
Refractive lens exchange works best for older patients who are hyperopic (farsighted) or myopic (nearsighted) and want to lessen their dependence on reading glasses. To find out if refractive lens exchange is right for you, contact Chicago Cornea Consultants today.
The Refractive Lens Exchange Procedure
During the refractive lens exchange procedure at Chicago Cornea Consultants, a small incision is made at the edge of the cornea. A special probe is inserted through the incision to gently break up and suction out the damaged lens. The intraocular lens implant is then inserted into place. The entire refractive lens exchange procedure is completed in about 20 to 25 minutes, and visual recovery is rapid.
What Are the Benefits of Refractive Lens Exchange?
There are several advantages to the refractive lens exchange procedure, including:
- Quick visual recovery
- Permanent results without the use of a laser
- Eliminates the need for cataract surgery in the future
- Eliminates the dependence on glasses and contact lenses
If you want to learn more about the exciting opportunities refractive lens exchange has to offer, contact Chicago Cornea Consultants today to schedule a personal consultation.
Tecnis Multifocal IOL
For patients undergoing cataract or refractive lens exchange surgery, the advanced TECNIS Multifocal is an implantable lens that restores vision after surgery and corrects presbyopia (the need for reading glasses). It’s the lens 94% of patients would choose again. It delivers results superior to those of a standard multifocal lens and offers an excellent chance to become spectacle independent.
Exceptional Full Range of Vision
Only the advanced TECNIS Multifocal Lens enables you to see clearly at near, intermediate, and far distances without glasses in all light conditions.
If you are diagnosed with cataracts and are experiencing one or more of the following symptoms, you may be a candidate for the TECNIS Multifocal Lens.
How do I pay for this upgraded IOL after my cataract surgery?
Medicare now allows greater access to advanced technology lens implants like the TECNIS Multifocal Lens.
A recent Medicare ruling on lens implants allows beneficiaries to upgrade to the full range of vision and greater spectacle independence provided by the TECNIS Multifocal Lens. This means the traditional costs associated with cataract treatment are covered by Medicare, with patients having the option to pay additional charges associated with receiving a presbyopia-correcting lens such as the TECNIS Multifocal Lens.
If you want to learn more about TECNIS multifocal IOL, contact Chicago Cornea Consultants today or log on to the following website: www.tecnismultifocal.com
AcrySof® ReSTOR® Intraocular Lens
The AcrySof® ReSTOR® intraocular lens (IOL) is a revolutionary new artificial lens that can restore a patient's full range of vision while simultaneously reducing a patient's dependence on bifocals or prescription reading glasses. The patented design utilizes apodized diffractive technology, which manages light delivered to the cornea by distributing light to distant and nearby focal points. This results in excellent visual acuity of nearby as well as faraway objects, allowing patients to read the print on medicine bottles, newspapers, and magazines while also providing vision of distant objects.
Clinical trials have shown that four out of five patients who have undergone bilateral cataract surgery did not require glasses or bifocals following the procedure. In fact, 84 percent of patients experienced 20/25 distance vision or better and 20/32 near vision or better.
85 percent of AcrySof® ReSTOR® patients experienced 20/40 binocular intermediate vision or better.
If you want to learn more about the AcrySof® ReSTOR® intraocular lens (IOL) and refractive lens exchange, contact Chicago Cornea Consultants today or log on to the following websites:
www.acrysofrestor.com
www.cataractsurgery.com
The Bausch & Lomb Crystalens™
Imagine if you could read, sew, drive, and go about your life without having to depend on glasses. A revolutionary new intraocular lens implant (IOL) called the Crystalens™ may make that possible. Chicago Cornea Consultants is pleased to announce that we have been selected to be among the first practices to offer our patients the extraordinary Crystalens™, which is used to replace the eye's natural lens when removed either at the time of cataract surgery or during refractive lens exchange, where the lens is removed strictly for refractive correction. Crystalens™, an intraocular lens implant (IOL), has the ability to “accommodate,” or change shape, allowing it to focus on both distant and near objects. Not everyone is a candidate for Crystalens™, but a screening examination at Chicago Cornea Consultants will help us determine your candidacy.
Patients over 50 who are nearsighted or farsighted can receive Crystalens™ as part of a refractive lens exchange. With the Crystalens™, these patients are less likely to have to depend on reading glasses than they would with a “standard” monofocal IOL.
The major issue with regard to the Crystalens™ is its extra cost; however, Crystalens™ can be used in Medicare recipients who are undergoing refractive lens exchange if the patient is willing to sign a special release form.
Crystalens™ may allow you to live your life without being dependant on glasses. To determine if you are a candidate, please contact one of our three offices, located in Chicago, Highland Park, and Hoffman Estates, to schedule an evaluation. Please specify that you are interested in the Crystalens™ procedure.
For more information visit the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO),
Eye Surgery Education Council, and Crystalens™.