RELIEVED BUSINESSMAN FINALLY KNOWS HOW MUCH HE’S PAYING FOR COFFEE THANKS TO NEW SIGHT SAVING OPERATION

Dr Nabil Habib, Consultant Opthalmologist, successfully implants his first multifocal toric lenses into a patient who had no other solution

Vision is a priceless gift that enables us to perceive the world as we know it. But for individuals like Andrew Keen, the world had never been clear.

Born with a convergent squint and already faced with extreme long-sightedness, severe astigmatism and lazy eye in his childhood, Andrew had suffered complex vision problems for longer than most. At just 5 years old, Andrew, who was already wearing glasses, underwent a frightening operation to fix his squint and improve his vision, but no sooner was it fixed, than the squint began to diverge to the other side of his eye. Fromglasses to contacts, contacts to more glasses, Andrew, now aged 49 and with presbyopia getting worse, thought enduring excruciating headaches was the price he had to pay for vision; no other recent technology or procedure would solve his dilemma. That was before he encountered the lens that would literally change the way he saw the world.

Andrew is a husband, a father of three and a highly established businessman currently working as the Managing Director of an engineering company. His home and work life depend on his ability to see but rather tragically, not only did Andrew have to endure both glasses and contact lenses from a very young age, he was also uniquely prone to severe headaches brought on by the heavy frames. Andrew changed to hard contact lenses in his early 20s to prevent the headaches and then to multifocal contact lenses in his mid-30s when his near-vision began to worsen as a result of presbyopia; a condition which affects everyone more typically around their mid to late 40s. Last year, Andrew reluctantly switched back to heavy glasses when his contacts became increasingly uncomfortable, a result of lengthy working hours and frequent long-distance flights in dry air-conditioned environments.

Andrew says, “I was so keen to avoid wearing glassesagain that I tried every contact lens option available but none of them worked. I then purchased an extremely expensive pair of glasses to keep the weight down as much as possible, but even then the pressure on my nose and along my temples led to severe headaches and made me very depressed. That was the final straw; I had to find a permanent solution.”

In May of 2010, Andrew went to see Dr Nabil Habib, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and Honorary University Fellow, who advised him that his case was particularly complicated; he would require both toric and multifocal lenses which were not yet available. Much to Dr Habib’s delight, early the next month he attended the World Ophthalmology Congress in Berlin where a new lens was launched, the LENTIS Mplus Toric.This lens combined the LENTIS Mplus technology with the toric functionalities of the Tplus series, thereby creating Andrew’s optimal lens. At the time, Andrew’s vision was so poor that without glasses, he could hardly see his wife’s face in the morning or the outline of his own car directly in front of him. With nothing to lose, Andrew decided to have the lens implanted in his lazy eye. Twenty-four hours after the surgery, Andrew removed the eye patch to see his familiar world in a way he had never experienced before: with perfect clarity.

Eager to improve his total vision, Andrew promptly had the lens inserted in his other eye in September.

The change in his prescription since having both lenses implanted is drastic; Andrew’s left eye has improved from +6.5 to +.5 and his right eye from +4.25 to +.75. His long-distance vision is better than he was ever able to achieve wearing glasses or contact lenses and he can see a car from 30 to 40 metres away. Andrew comments, “I used to frequently go to Starbuck’s when traveling and found the menu board very difficult to read, even with contact lenses on. Now the prices are easy to read… At long last I know how much money I have been spending after all these years!”

Unlike other multifocal IOLs (MIOLs), the lens has a unique sector-shaped near-vision segment and uses only one transition zone, allowing for seamless transition between the near, intermediate and far vision zones and minimal to no risk of halos and glare in patient vision. LENTIS Mplus Toric benefits from this same core design but offers a tailor-made solution for patients that suffer from both presbyopia and corneal astigmatism.

Andrew’s quality of personal and professional life has improved enormously since having LENTIS MplusToric lenses implanted. Suddenly, his bi-weekly cross-country business flights are headache-free, his night driving vision is perfect and he has even been able to teach his son to swim, as hindering goggles and steamy contact lenses are no longer a requirement.

Thanks to the LENTIS MplusToric lenses, distributed by Topcon, an increasing number of headache-ridden “Andrew’s” are giving the world another look.

-ENDS-

Notes to editor

Lives in Ivybridge, near Plymouth

Children aged 13, 18 and 21

About Topcon Surgical

Topcon Surgical is the surgical division of Topcon Corporation, leading provider of clinical information, technology and connectivity in eye care, with over 80 years of expertise. Topcon Surgical division has the exclusive distribution of the LENTIS products, such as the Mplus and Mplus Toric IOLs across Europe, including the UK and Ireland.

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