Westlake Village doctor keeps close eye on new surgical techniques
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers PHYSICIAN WITH A VISION—Dr. Rajesh Khanna prepares to give laser eye surgery.

With more than a million people signing up for Lasik surgery in the United States every year, it’s clear people are tired of toting their glasses or popping in their contacts every morning. But the truth is, not everyone is cut out for the surgery.

“Lasik is the common buzz word now,” said Dr. Rajesh Khanna, a Westlake Village eye surgeon. “People know that it’s going to be able to help them remove contact lenses and see better, but not everybody is a candidate. We have to be careful.”

Khanna’s fears are for those who seek treatment from unqualified doctors who will perform the surgery for a cheaper fee. These doctors, he said, often won’t speak up if the patient isn’t a good candidate for the surgery.

“Some people aren’t aware that it’s not going to help them because they are going to these cheap places,” Khanna said. “People have to make sure they don’t just rush to have Lasik. If Lasik is done on an unhealthy cornea, it can be dangerous.”

Keratoconus is one such condition that Lasik can’t help. Derived from the Greek terms “kerato” (cornea) and “conus” (cone) the condition makes the cornea thinner and cone-shaped. Khanna describes the normally round basketball-shaped cornea as progressively thinning and becoming football-shaped, causing a cone-like bulge to develop.

Symptoms start with slight blurring, and in later stages vision can be compared to viewing a street sign through a car windshield during a rainstorm.

Until recently, keratoconus sufferers have had little relief. Even with glasses or contact lenses, vision can be severely impaired. And the only surgical option was a corneal implant, which could cost more than $10,000 and mean up to 18 months of rehabilitation.

Intacs surgery is about half the cost, and patients can return to work the next day, Khanna said. The newer surgery involves lifting the flap over the cornea and implanting small segments to help reshape the eye.

“When there’s corneal thinning, it bulges out,” Khanna said. “These people need support to help the eye get back to the original shape. . . . It’s like a Miracle Bra. If the breasts are sagging, it pushes them up the same way the segments push the eye up.”

Glenn Hagele is founder and executive director of the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance, an Internet-based nonprofit patientadvocacy organization at usaeyes.org.

“Intacs don’t help astigmatism, and they correct only some myopia,” Hagele said. “But what has been found now is that they are excellent for keratoconus. For a patient who has keratoconus, it’s a proven treatment that will reduce the progression of this disease.”

Khanna said his main goal is to let people know there are options for those who aren’t good candidates for Lasik surgery. His practice offers other stateof-the-art procedures such as implantable contact lenses. The five- to 10-minute procedure can help people who can’t have Lasik but don’t need Intacs.

“We don’t try to fit round pegs to square holes,” Khanna said. “Sometimes two or three things might work.”

Khanna is board certified and on the UCLA faculty. He has surgery centers in Westlake Village and Valencia.

For more information, visit www.khannainstitute.com, or email Lasik@khannainstitute.com. For more information about keratoconus, visit www.usaeyes.org or www.keratoconushelp.com.