Life-changing surgery restores expat’s vision
23-year-old was diagnosed with keratoconus, which affects the cornea
My career depends on two things — my eyes and my hands. When I first started having problems with my vision, it was a huge disappointment for me.”
A23-year-old university student in Ajman has had his vision restored following a life-changing surgery that resolved his keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that is prevalent in Middle Eastern communities.
Mogemad Osama, an Ajman University student from Palestine, who plans to become a dentist, struggled for years with devastating vision loss. The pain and discomfort had caused him to change his prescription glasses multiple times. After deciding that he needed to seek help, Osama was referred to Dr Esmaeil Arbabi at Moorfields Eye Hospital in Abu Dhabi, which is part of the Mubadala Health network of facilities.
Osama was afraid he would not be able to realise his dream of practicing dentistry. “My career depends on two things — my eyes and my hands. When I first started having problems with my vision, it was a huge disappointment for me. But I [didn’t want to] give up,” Osama said.
He was diagnosed with keratoconus, which affects the structure of the cornea and gradually causes
Mogemad Osama | Palestinian student
blurred vision that cannot be corrected with glasses. According to a recent study, while the disease affects only one in 2,000 people worldwide, the prevalence of the disease in the UAE is 2.7 per cent, which is 54 per cent higher than the global average.
Cause unknown
According to Dr Esmaeil, who has treated a number of cases of keratoconus, the cause of the disease is unknown, but genetics and environmental factors could play a role. Osama’s father had surgery several years ago for the same condition.
Instead of opting for a corneal transplant, Dr Esmaeil performed a minimally invasive surgery, called crosslinking, combined with a sophisticated laser treatment on Osama’s left eye. The advanced laser reshapes the cornea, and smoothens the irregularities caused by keratoconus. The procedure only takes 15 minutes to complete, and has a 95 per cent chance of stopping the progression of the disease.