Univ. Prof. Dr. Bolz, professor of Ophthalmology at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, provides insight into a new procedure that can immediately diagnose corneal inflammation. Corneal inflammation can result in permanent vision loss and worldwide, it is the fifth leading cause of blindness. As there are a variety of microorganisms that can potentially result in eye inflammation, identifying the exact causative pathogen is critical.

There is reportedly a new laser procedure that can immediately determine the cause of corneal inflammation. How does this procedure work exactly?
Univ. Prof. Dr. Matthias Bolz: The procedure involves a laser scan referred to as "optical coherence tomography". Although this procedure has been around for about 20 years, using it to diagnose corneal inflammation is new. The method is very accurate and results from a study conducted by our department, especially by Doz. Dr. Nino Hirnschall, allows us to quickly identify the disease’s specific pathogen.

Why is important to use a laser right away when examining the eye?
Prof. Dr. Matthias Bolz: The procedure before involved swabbing the cornea and then sending the sample to a lab to be processed and analyzed. Getting the results could take up to several days so in the meantime, we had to ‘fly blind’ in our choice of treatment. But now we can quickly get a good idea of what we are up against and what will work best. In many cases, severe corneal inflammation can result in permanent scarring, vision deterioration, and even blindness.