Arcuate keratotomy
Arcuate keratotomy is a surgical procedure
on the cornea
of the eye.
This is implied by the term "arcuate keratotomy" because
the part "kerato-" refers to the cornea, as
is also true of other terms in this section (listed on the left).
In the case of arcuate keratotomy, a curved incision is made at the periphery (edge) of the cornea. This is often made in an area of greatest curvature of the cornea in order to flatten that part of the cornea to reduce astigmatism. In very simple terms, astigmatism is a defect of vision in which the image of an object is distorted because not all rays of light from the object are focussed, e.g. horizontally or vertically - see astigmatism for a more detailed explanation.
More about Ophthalmology:
This section includes short definitions
of many diseases, disorders, and conditions of the eyes and visual system.
For definitions of other terms in this category, choose from the list
to the left (but note that this is not a complete/exhaustive list).
Other related pages include
- A diagram of the eye
- Definitions and descriptions of the parts of the eye
- A concise description of the human retina
- Definitions of parts of the retina
- Diseases and disorders of the human eye and the human visual system
For further information see also our pages of books about ophthalmology.
The following books may also be of interest:
