What should I do if I have 1800 degrees of high myopia?

  Today, a young man with 1,800 degrees of myopia came to the clinic, and I was impressed by his particularly urgent and worried look. After completing the basic examination, my initial plan was ICL V4c implantation. The patient had some concerns, so I asked him to go back and discuss with his family before making a decision. He reminded me of a sunny young man I had V4c surgery on last November, which was the first surgery after V4c was certified in China. His prescription was 1500 degrees, and he reached 1.0 after the surgery, and started to work and live normally on the third day of the surgery.  High myopia is not a scary thing, and people with high myopia are a group that deserves our care. When the myopia is more than 1000 degrees or the corneal thickness is not enough, additive surgery ICL implantation is the procedure worth to perform. In my previous articles, I have described “add-on” IOL implants that can provide real help to patients.  While we all know that laser corneal surgery involves cutting the cornea to make it flatter and thinner, which in some ways is “subtractive”, the implantation of a lens, a very fine and thin lens, can be considered “additive”. When the cornea is not large enough to withstand the surgery, the intraocular space, especially the anterior chamber, is suitable and the corneal endothelium is not abnormal and does not have high intraocular pressure, in principle, the “additive” lens is suitable, and the incision is only 3 mm without sutures, which is very effective and safe. Of course, it is very important to standardize the indications for intraocular lens surgery, and the lens has its limitations, so it must be performed after a strict evaluation by the surgeon.  We started to perform high myopia anterior chamber lens in 2003 and high myopia posterior chamber ICL lens implantation in 2007. The first to carry out it in China was Professor Shen, and the clinical trial was so well done that our country was officially adopted by SFDA in 2006. More than 600,000 people worldwide with myopia and astigmatism have been corrected, mainly for the high myopia who desperately need help, some are 1200 degrees, some are 1900 degrees, some are medium to high myopia with thin corneas, and all are well corrected. In our case, those with ultra-high myopia of 2000 degrees or more are considered for ICL combined with laser EK or SMILE surgery. Since it is “additive”, once there is a cataract and other problems, the lens can be removed as needed, which means that ICL has the characteristic of reversibility. Over the years, ICL has been carried out in China in a smooth and solid manner, and has been well received by patients.  ICL implantation requires pre-laser iris punching or manual peri-iris perforation on the operating table, in order to allow the flow of water in the eye, but adds to the treatment session. The iris perforation can sometimes cause anterior chamber reactions, sometimes induce IOP fluctuations, and sometimes “leaky” light. Is it possible to completely and safely remove this link? More than three years ago, I was at a meeting in Paris, France, and a European ophthalmologist reported on a new ICL with a central aperture that does not require iris laser perforation, an immediate upgrade! The most important change of the new generation ICL V4c is that it has a central microporous hole of 360 microns in diameter, which allows the natural flow of water in the eye and is more in line with the physiological water circulation. Not only does it do away with the iris laser perforation, allowing the water in the eye to circulate freely and better prevent post-operative IOP elevation, but it also has other potential benefits such as further reducing the occurrence of cataracts. Moreover, the Toric ICLV4c with astigmatism offers a correction option for patients with high myopia combined with astigmatism. When I saw this type of lens, I was very, very envious and hoped that it would soon be available in China to help the large number of patients with high myopia in China.  In October of last year, the SFDA approved the V4c, a new type of lens that allows the free and natural circulation of water in the eye, to enter China. Since I made the first V4c lens and the first V4c toric lens in China with Prof. Xiaoying, in less than 3 months, V4c has sprung up in China, and more and more doctors have mastered and applied this new lens implantation technology, benefiting more and more people with high myopia. Moreover, the colleagues pay special attention to safety and efficacy prediction, and discuss almost every week, selflessly sharing their experiences and lessons learned. As V4c is approaching its 100th day of use in China, I wish each of our doctors the best of luck in improving each V4c, giving myopic patients a clear vision and allowing them to smile with freedom of vision! We wish our highly myopic patients can see the world more clearly and live a better life with the help of the new technology and new crystal!