![\"keratoconus](\"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cheratocono-salvare-la-vista-senza-trapianto-si-puo-con-la-chirurgia_featured-image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Avoiding corneal transplants, in many cases of keratoconus, is possible. This is reiterated by Dr. Alberto Bellone, a doctor specializing in ocular microsurgery active in Turin and Ivrea, after having participated as an observer at the 3rd World Keratoconus Congress (WKC) held in recent days in Florence, an event that brought together the world’s leading experts of the International Keratoconus Society (IKS).<\/p>\n
From the congress came the confirmation that this degenerative disease of the cornea can be successfully tackled through cutting-edge corneal remodeling techniques. The problem is that few professionals propose them, and often patients arrive at the diagnosis too late.<\/p>\n
Alberto Bellone is among the very few surgeons in Italy capable of managing highly complex intrastromal ring implants (Keraring\/ICRS) even in cases of extreme technical difficulty (advanced ectasias or highly irregular corneas). The corneal remodeling through rings is then associated with cross-linking (also with iontophoresis), thus stabilizing the cornea and allowing for the recovery of vision.<\/p>\n
The conservative approach through surgery is therefore a real alternative when talking about keratoconus, even if this option is often not proposed to patients: professionals and highly specialized centers are lacking, and the creation of dedicated referral networks is urgent.<\/p>\n
“The Florence congress reiterated that keratoconus must no longer be a sentence to a corneal transplant,” emphasizes Alberto Bellone. “However, there is still a gap between what technology allows us to do and what is usually offered. We aim for personalized interventions, such as the implantation of high-precision intrastromal rings, which allow us to restore shape and visual dignity to corneas that we would have once considered unrecoverable.”<\/p>\n
Moreover, this is a position that the specialist has supported and disseminated for a long time: Dr. Bellone is the author of the ebook Keratoconus? The solution exists!, which sheds light on the characteristics, the techniques for a correct early diagnosis, and the new therapies available in Italy.<\/p>\n
Keratoconus: what it is and the importance of early diagnosis \u2013 A degenerative (characterized by a progressive thinning and deformation of the central area of the cornea, which presents an irregular cone-shaped swelling) and disabling disease of the cornea, keratoconus affects 1 person in 500, in 96% of cases it is bilateral, and it manifests at a young age, generally between 20 and 30 years old. The causes are still unknown: in some cases, there is a hereditary component, while in predisposed people it is thought that the use of contact lenses or the continuous rubbing of the eyes can favor its onset. If keratoconus is not stopped with corneoplastic interventions, 22% of patients arrive at a corneal transplant within 7-8 years of the first diagnosis.<\/p>\n
As there are to date no pharmacological therapies that can return the sick eye to a condition of absence of keratoconus, early diagnosis and highly personalized treatments are the necessary keys for good therapeutic success and for maintaining the best quality of life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. Alberto Bellone: “Many patients arrive at the diagnosis too late and are not made aware of all the options” After the confirmations that arrived from the World Keratoconus Congress (Florence, April 16\u201318), Dr. Alberto Bellone, a pioneer of ocular microsurgery, comments: “Corneal remodeling techniques work. But early diagnosis, dedicated referral networks, professionals, and highly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12920,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12921"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12923,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12921\/revisions\/12923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keratoconuscenter.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}