The personal information form that Gabriele filled out on the day of the consultation left Dr Pinelli in no doubt: under “post-op objectives” Gabriele had written: “total recovery“.
Gabriele is 26, and he is very determined in both his work and his life. He watched a television interview with Dr Pinelli and wasted no time booking a consultation at SERI Lugano.
“I work in television, producing videos and directing. So I am very aware of how difficult it is to express oneself in front of a camera. When I saw Dr Pinelli on television and could hear the precision and simplicity in his description of his work and the techniques he uses, I felt that such confidence could only be the fruit of great experience and skill. I had found the right person.”
Gabriele had an acute visual defect which he corrected with contact lenses but without achieving good eyesight. In his right eye he had 8.5 dioptres of myopia and 0.25 of astigmatism, while in the left he had 9.5 dioptres of myopia and 0.5 of astigmatism. Without contact lenses he could see nothing at all.
“To be honest, I had already had a number of consultations and the answer had always been the same: your problem is too acute and laser treatment is not an option. You will have to make do with contact lenses. When I went to Dr Pinelli, he said immediately that in my case the only technique capable of resolving my problem was the phakic IOL implant in the anterior chamber. He also said that it was possible, and that there was every reason to suppose that I would have excellent vision. I was very happy!”
The acronym IOL stands for Intra Ocular Lens, that is a lens that is inserted into the eye between the iris and the crystalline lens. It is like a permanent contact lens inserted directly inside the eye with the option, should it become necessary, of removing it and having it perhaps replaced with another lens, or extracted to proceed with another kind of intervention should cataracts start forming many years down the line.
“I have always had extremely bad eyesight. I have been wearing glasses since I was 10 and when I was older I began to use contact lenses. It was extremely difficult. Without contact lenses I could not see from here to there. It was ironic then that I decided to take up a profession in which images, and therefore eyesight, are everything. Because I had to handle television cameras for many hours at a stretch, my visual defect was particularly tiresome. Looking into the lens was extremely tiring, my vision was not clear, focusing was always a challenge and by evening I was always exhausted and often had a headache. Now I can say that my life has really changed!”
Find out about the IOL technique for acute visual impairments used by Gabriele