Dr. Chynn corresponds with a world-renowed expert
Dear Dr. Paysse:
I enjoyed the article about your correcting Pediatric Anisometropic Amblyopes in this week’s Eyeworld (http://www.eyeworld.org/
I have performed LASEK in about 2 dozen adult Amblyopes and they have all improved 1-4 lines over their preoperative best corrected visual acuity, which has not been well-reported in the literature.
The problem I am having here in the United States, particularly in New York City is that the great majority of Pediatric Anisometropic Amblyopes, who are patching failures, usually only see pediatric ophthalmologists. As you know, pediatric ophthalmologists are extremely protective/conservative, so they will never refer patients to us to get lasered, not even in cases we would think appropriate.
So, my question to you, is how should I go about trying to help Pediatric Anisometropic Amblyopes who are patching failures. I don’t want to try to “bypass” the pediatric ophthalmologists, but also don’t want to prevent these needy patients from therapy that can be potentially life-changing (and vision-protecting). Such as the 2-1/2 year old girl you lasered and basically cured/prevented from developing amblyopia.
My center would be ideal for such patients here in New York City, as we do only non-cutting surgery here (LASEK and epiLASEK). (I agree with you that performing a flap-based/cutting LASIK procedure in a child is less than ideal/safe.)
Any ideas on how to help more patients like this would be greatly appreciated,
Emil William Chynn, MD FACS MBA
