Keratotomy is defined as an incision into the cornea, often for the purpose of altering the way light is refracted and correcting vision errors.
Dr. Lombardi, who heads the Lombardi Eye Clinic, made a breakthrough in the early 80s, by applying the same principles used in Radial Keratotomy, strategically located incisions in the cornea to correct myopia disorders, to treat keratoconus. He developed a new technique, Asymmetric Radial Keratotomy and mini-A.R.K as a cure for keratoconus. This technique for keratoconus treatment has its past in the Radial Keratotomies performed first by Sato (1955), and then by Fyodorov (1975). This technique is routinely performed at the Centre for keratoconus in Rome.
The purpose of Radial Keratotomy is to flatten the central part of the cornea with radial and symmetrical corneal incisions where the effect increases as they become longer and deeper. For Mini A.R.K. surgery the length of the incisions is not so important and the result of the surgery is the flattening of the extroflected central and paracentral optical surface of the cornea.
Consult an in-depth description of Asymmetric Radial Keratotomy.