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Press LASIK Eye News - Cincinnati, OH
A RETURN OF VISION MAN GETS EXPERIMENTAL LENSES
When Michael Gauspohl lost his hearing to meningitis at age 6, he learned to read lips. Then, in eighth grade, his eyesight started going, making it difficult for him to communicate. By the end of the day today, though, his eyesight should be just about perfect: Gauspohl, 38, is the first person in the United States to receive experimental implantable lenses to correct his severe astigmatism and nearsightedness. "His vision without correction is counting fingers in front of his face," said Dr. David Schneider, the surgeon treating Gauspohl. "He couldn't see the big E on the eye chart."
The Visian Toric ICL, manufactured by STAAR Surgical, based in Monrovia, California, hasn't yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though it has been approved for use in Europe and Canada for the last few years. The lens is the first implantable lens that corrects astigmatism, or misshaping of the eye's natural lens, as well as nearsightedness or farsightedness. Gauspohl was granted a compassionate-use waiver – a person's health concerns are pressing enough that they can receive an unapproved device or medication - from the FDA to receive the implants. He underwent surgery on his left eye Wednesday at MidWest EyeCenter in Eastgate. Six weeks ago, Dr. Schneider implanted the experimental lens in Gauspohl's right eye. With the implant, the Crestview Hills man has 20/20 vision in his right eye. "The implant is better than any contact lenses were," he said. Vision in his left eye won't be quite as good because his eye was damaged by a viral infection in childhood, Dr. Schneider said. Dr. Schneider put a protective patch over his left eye after Wednesday's surgery, but he should be able to take it off today. "He'll notice the difference immediately," Dr. Schneider said. For the surgery, Dr. Schneider and his team numbed Gauspohl's left eye and used medications to paralyze it so it wouldn't move during surgery. Then using a specialized tool about the size of a pen, Dr. Schneider made a tiny incision "where the clear part of the cornea meets the white part of the eye" he said, and slipped the lens in over Gauspohl's natural lens, resting between the pupil and cornea." He then tucked tiny "feet" at the edge of the implanted lens under the rim of the iris, or colored part of the eye, to hold it in place. Gauspohl, like most patients, didn't require stitches. The procedure took less than ten minutes. Cost of the implants was $3,500 per eye. Gauspohl said he got the implants to protect independence. The meningitis infection caused nerve damage, which caused his deafness.
He can talk and a hearing aid helps improve his hearing, but not completely. But hearing aids stopped working or get lost – he's waiting for a new one now – and sometimes even with the aid, he still needs to read lips to understand people. Starting in eighth grade, Gauspohl, who works as a landscaper, wore glasses, then contacts, but his vision kept getting worse as he aged. About a year ago he started worrying about what he would do if he lost his hearing aid. "It's important for me to be able to take care of myself, to be able to protect myself" he said before Wednesday's surgery. "I don't mind not being able to hear or not being able to see, but not being able to see and hear is too much." He checked out laser surgery, but wasn't a candidate. Then he learned about the new Visian lenses. Gauspohl said he's not worried at all that the lenses aren't FDA approved. "If they wouldn't have approved me for this, I would have gone to Canada for them."