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In a podcast, host Camille Combal returned to a corneal condition for which he must have recourse to a transplant. A condition explained to us by Professor Jean-Louis Bourges, ophthalmologist and specialist in the matter.
The animator must undergo a second corneal transplant
We readily know him as a joker and positive, but it is under another more serious facet that the host Camille Combal has expressed himself lately. During a podcast for The Parisian, the 41-year-old man returned to a genetic disease which he suffers from, keratoconus, a deformation of the cornea which now affects both of his eyes. “It is a genetic disease, which I have from birth, which can be quite common, which it was not possible to treat at all before. Today, they are succeeding with corneal transplants”he explained.
After a first corneal transplant in 2015 on his left eye, the host reveals today that he is preparing to correct his right eye, thanks to another transplant. A necessity to be able to continue to see normally.
What is keratoconus? Who is affected?
Professor Jean-Louis Bourges, ophthalmologist and keratoconus specialist, tells us more about this disease:
“What is called keratoconus is a deformation of the cornea, this transparent wall of the eye, like a porthole, which in this case is then too thin, too soft and irregular. As it evolves, this irregularity inevitably causes a distortion of sight”.
The condition is above all a hereditary disease, which is already known in some families. It can also appear and be associated with certain syndromes, such as trisomy. Or even discovering yourself after a mechanical factor, such as OCD or allergies, which would give rise to rubbing of the eye. “But this mechanical factor favoring a keratoconus only intervenes when a genetic ground is already present “, says the specialist. It is therefore not simply the fact of rubbing your eyes that can cause this but a set of factors.
What are the signs of keratoconus?
Keratoconus generally begins its evolution at the time of hormonal changes, i.e. in the pre-adolescent period. “But this is very fine, not yet symmetrical, and difficult to perceive, unless the problem is known in the family and gives rise to screening” specifies the expert.
Around the age of 15-20, the disease, which continues to evolve, often affects the second eye, and the person recognizes a sight problem.
“The diagnosis is then made in the office, when the refraction does not work, when we cannot raise the visual acuity to the maximum, despite all the glasses tested. This is where we ask ourselves the question and that a topography then gives us the characteristics of Keratoconus”.
Around the age of 40, on the other hand, the disease generally ceases to progress, because the cornea, like the skin, loses its elasticity in the face of UVA rays. It therefore no longer has the capacity to deform further.
Corneal transplant, the only solution?
Today, fortunately, we can stop and slow down the progression of the disease and even act on the cornea. Several techniques are possible depending on the evolution.
- Glasses cannot correct this problem. However, there is the possibility of putting something regular like a rigid contact lens against the cornea, which does not deform and can help vision up to a certain degree of deformation;
- It is also possible to prevent the progression of the disease by therapeutically reaching the cumulative dose of ultraviolet radiation received at age 40, to act on the elasticity of the cornea;
- Finally, when the deformation is too strong, it is also possible to change the wall itself: what is called a corneal transplant. “This may concern only the anterior part, or the entire cornea” confirms the ophthalmologist
An intervention dear to the heart of the host of “Mask Singer” who wishes to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation and cornea donation: “Things have changed a bit, now you are a donor no matter what, unless you don’t want it and then you have to specify it”.