Oklahoma Crystalens Cataract Eye Surgery

Mindy Nguyen is a 31-year-old mother of four. She is active as a nurse at the Stillwater hospital and enjoys playing with her children, from the toddler to the grade-schooler.

And she needed bifocals.

Nguyen has been wearing glasses since the age of 13, but has suffered migraines all her life. Her right eye was compensating for her deficient left.

In the last year, her vision quickly clouded and she was starting to suffer the severe headaches daily. It got to the point where she couldn't drive because of her cloudy, blurred vision, and it was beginning to strain her work performance.

She decided to turn to her family eye doctor, Dr. Brian Gumm in Stillwater. What Dr. Gumm found were visually significant cataracts, which probably started to develop at an early age.

Nguyen was a perfect candidate for a new cataract replacement lens surgery for people who develop cataracts and who want to be able to see clearly, near, intermediate and far without corrective lenses, said Dr. Brad Britton, founder of BVA in Edmond.

Now, Nguyen needs no bifocals, contacts or reading glasses, and she can see as well as she did years ago

Nguyen is one of only a dozen people in the state to have cataract accommodating lens replacement surgery, or crystalens ®. It's the most innovative technological advance in eye surgery since Lasik was introduced in 1995, said Britton. He was one of three ophthalmologists in the state to first perform the Lasik surgery.

Now Dr. Britton is the first in the state to perform the crystalens ® procedure. Oklahoma joins the ranks of 35 other states with a physician performing the crystalens ® surgery.

There are people who can't see their computer screens, for example, without a corrective lens, Britton said. It impacts those facing bifocals, who don't want to hassle with glasses and contact lenses. Traditional cataract surgery leaves you still having to wear glasses.

The procedure actually removes the lens, and replaces it with an artificial lens, which moves as the muscle contracts.

"The clarity of colors, lighting. it's amazing," she said. "I think it's an awesome surgery."

Over the years, the evolution of cataract treatment has gone through many phases -- from having to wear very thick glasses to lens implants, but patients still had to wear glasses or lens, said Dr. Larry Henry with BVA. Cataract treatment then evolved into mono-vision lenses, where one lens allows you to see up close and another at a distance. Not everyone can adjust to that, physicians say.

Lasik surgery is for younger people who wear glasses and contacts to see clearly in the distance. This impacts about half the population, but only 2 percent utilize the procedure.

The crystalens ® procedure is for the older population, age 45 to 65, who get cataracts. That's something we will all experience some day, but it depends to what degree.

"It's a godsend for cataract patients, just in time for the baby boomer generation to start coming of age – an affluent generation wanting to remain as active and viable as possible," said Dr. Britton. "They want to be able to do whatever it takes to not have to wear bifocals."

Unfortunately, Medicare patients cannot receive the benefits of this surgery as yet, so thus, the cut off of age 65, Dr. Britton said. Medicare won't even allow its beneficiaries to pay for it out of pocket. But medical leaders say they hope that will change any day, as the issue is at the top of the list of Medicare's concerns.

"The ones most excited about this technology are those who have been farsighted all their lives. They want to not have to keep up with their glasses," he said. "crystalens® is for patients who were going to cataract surgery anyhow, but the traditional cataract surgery gave them the distance sight, but they still had to have reading glasses."

"If you're going to have cataract surgery, this is the type of implant I would want in my eye. Most likely my parents will have it done before their 65th birthday."
crystalens® is a cataract replacement lens that works naturally with the eyes’ muscles to give you the quality of vision enjoyed when you were younger.
crystalens® “hinges” are designed to allow the lens to move, or accommodate to focus on objects near, far and all distances in-between seamlessly. Unlike old-style fixed focal lenses, which didn’t move, crystalens® has the ability to move, thus focusing as your eye’s natural lens did when you were younger.
And the best part about the new implants is the more you read, the more your vision improves, as the muscles that move the lens strengthen after years of atrophy.

"I'm only 31 years old. I'm not ready to wear reading glasses. I love swimming, being active with my kids."

Now she can.

BVA Advanced Eye Care includes seven ophthalmologists and several optometrists. Its mission is to serve the rural areas, with hubs in Edmond, Ada, Tulsa and Elk City, and satellites in Clinton, Hobart and 30 other places in state.

WHAT ARE CATARACTS?
Cataracts are a progressive condition where your eye’s lens becomes cloudy, and eventually opaque due to dead tissue cells that get sloughed off over time, but are retained inside the capsule of the lens, much the same way your skin sloughs off dead cells. But since the lens is enclosed in a capsule, these cells have nowhere to go.
The exact cause of cataracts is unclear, but they occur in everyone as they age. Cataracts may be the result of a lifetime of exposure to ultraviolet rays, like the sun’s rays, and other factors such as cigarette smoking, diet, and alcohol consumption.

Cataracts can also occur at any age as a result of other causes such as eye injury, exposure to toxic substances or radiation, or as a result of other diseases such as diabetes. Congenital cataracts may even be present at birth due to genetic defects or developmental problems. Cataracts in infants may also result from exposure to diseases such as rubella during pregnancy.
Since cataracts take a long time to develop, noticeable changes in your vision happen slowly. However, because they’re progressive, symptoms are more apparent over time and can include:

Gradual deterioration of vision over time
Objects appearing dull, hazy, blurred or distorted
Dramatic reduction in night vision
Vision in bright light or sunshine may be obstructed by glare
You might see halos around lights at night
Whites, blues and purples become gray
Loss of the ability to focus on near objects

Newsroom

Offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Norman, Ada, Elk City, Muskogee and throughout Oklahoma

For more information about Lasik, cataracts, eyelids or other procedures, please call or e-mail us today.

See Better. Live Better.

(405) 752-2733
(888) 323-3937

Contact Us