I'm a 19 year old male with Marfan's Syndrome. My opthamologist refuses to even consider laser surgery for my eyes because of the Marfans. She says that it would be too risky, but she has never given me a satisfactory explanation as to why. As I understand it, laser surgery only touches the cornea, whereas the Marfans related problems have to do with the lens it self, a completely different entity.

I would very much like to have this surgery done, or at least a good explanation as to why I can't.

Thanks for your time,
Jesse

Marfan's patients generally have excessive laxity or stretchiness of bodily tissues. Although corneal involvment is not a reported feature of the major subtype of Marfan's, there are several subtypes of Marfan's in which keratoconus and keratoglobus occur. These conditions are due to weakness and thinning of the cornea.

In addition, the natural lens inside your eye is supported by weaker than normal suspension fibers (hence the propensity of lens dislocation in Marfan's). With LASIK, a suction ring is placed on the eye to allow flap-cutting. This ring imparts significant pressure on the eye and possibly on those fibers as well. This could lead to immediate lens dislocation. Nobody knows whether this would really happen, but I wouldn't want to be the one to find out.

Those two issues are enough to dissuade me from doing your LASIK. But...if you are persistent enough, I'm sure you could find someone willing to undertake those risks with you. I just don't want you to end up as case report of a LASIK disaster.