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Published on: June 12, 2012
Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem (PROSE) scleral lens for Salzmann's nodular degeneration
Gloria B Chiu1, Dianne Bach1, Christos Theophanous1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, United States.
Purpose:
To evaluate the use of Prosthetic Replacement of the Ocular Surface Ecosystem (PROSE) scleral lens treatment as an alternative to keratectomy in patients with symptomatic Salzmann's nodular degeneration (SND).
Methods:
A retrospective chart review from July 2009 to May 2013 identified 9 SND patients who were referred for PROSE evaluation. Patients who did not complete PROSE fitting or had other corneal comorbidities affecting vision were excluded from the study, and 7 eyes of 4 patients were included. Three patients were pseudophakic and 1 patient was phakic, and the lens status of our cohort did not change during the study.
Results:
Visual acuity improved from 0.19 ± 0.084 logMAR (approximately 20/31) pre PROSE to 0.028 ± 0.047 logMAR (approximately 20/21) post PROSE in patients with Salzmann's nodular degeneration (p = 0.002). OSDI scores improved from 46.9 ± 26.6 pre PROSE to 21.5 ± 18.7 post PROSE in the same cohort (p = 0.02).
Conclusion:
The results of this study show that PROSE can provide improvements in visual acuity and function in patients with Salzmann's nodular degeneration and offer an alternative to superficial keratectomy.

