Meet Our Keratoconus Specialist in Tukwila, Washington
Dr. Patricia Jitodai graduated from the University of Washington and then went on to the University of California Berkeley, where she completed her Doctorate of Optometry. She also received a Bachelor’s of Science in Vision Science at UC Berkeley. Dr. Jitodai received training in specialty contact lens fittings as well as orthokeratology. Ortho-K lenses help children prevent their vision from worsening due to myopia or nearsightedness. In addition, ortho-k lenses help adults achieve perfect vision free of glasses or contacts without resorting to surgery. Dr. Jitodai grew up in the Seattle, WA area and has lived there most of her life.
Along with spending time with her family and friends, she enjoys watching movies, exploring the outdoors, and hiking as well as cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
She first decided to become an eye doctor after working alongside a local optometrist in town. She was impressed by the care he provided to every patient, and she felt she was a perfect fit. This desire to help people and improve their vision continues to be what drives Dr. Jitodai, and she derives great satisfaction from positive outcomes.
An example of one of those positive outcomes is whenever she sees a scleral lens patient. For instance, one patient who came in had 20/80 vision. His eyes could not tolerate standard contact lenses, and prescription eyewear would not correct his vision. After Dr. Jitodai fit him with a scleral lens, his vision improved to 20/20! He was overjoyed that after years of struggling, he was able to attain a clear vision. Those opportunities to improve her patients' health and quality of life are why Dr. Jitodai became an optometrist.
One of the most important values to Dr. Jitodai is the ability to help restore vision to every patient. Vision plays an essential part in our lives, and she wants everyone to enjoy viewing their world. Dr. Jitodai is an American Board of Optometry Diplomate and a member of the following organizations: The American Optometric Association, The Orthokeratology Society, and The Washington Optometric Association.
Our Doctor Can Diagnosis and Treat Keratoconus
Your cornea is the transparent, outer lens of your eye, and it typically has a smooth dome shape. Keratoconus describes a condition in which the corneal structure isn’t strong enough to maintain a healthy ball shape.
Meet with our Keratoconus Specialist in Tukwila, Washington to define your eye's condition and ways for treatment.
As a result, the cornea bulges outward into more of a cone. Our professional optometric team at our eye care clinic is knowledgeable about how to diagnose and treat keratoconus.
Keratoconus is rare, with an estimated one person out of every 2,000 having the condition. It generally appears in the teenage years and can progress slowly or rapidly.
Keratoconus also runs in families, so if you or your children are at risk, it’s advised to contact us for a thorough eye exam.
Famous People with Keratoconus
Stephen Curry, one of the NBA's greatest basketball players, has Keratoconus. Diagnosed in 2019, Curry recently announced that he has been playing with Keratoconus for the past 10 years! If a great athlete can correct his blurry vision so can you!
Causes of Keratoconus
Your cornea is held in place by very small collagen fibers. When they are weakened and too fragile, they aren’t able to preserve the round shape of your cornea.
A reduction in the protective antioxidants of your cornea, which act to destroy damaging by-products made naturally by corneal cells, is what causes keratoconus.
In addition to genetics, some types of eye injuries may increase your chance of being diagnosed with keratoconus.
Specific ocular diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, vernal keratoconjunctivitis and retinopathy of prematurity, as well as some systemic conditions (Down syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Leber's congenital amaurosis and osteogenesis imperfecta) are also associated with this corneal abnormality.
Our Keratoconus Specialist in Tukwila, Washington has years of experience identifying the various levels of keratoconus and other corneal conditions.
Symptoms of Keratoconus
When the shape of your cornea begins to bulge, it alters your eyesight in two different ways. As the cone shape forms, your normally smooth corneal surface becomes wavy, called irregular astigmatism. Additionally, as your cornea expands, vision becomes increasingly nearsighted. Focusing becomes impossible without eyeglasses or contact lenses. Usually, the problems begin in one eye and develop later in the other eye too.
Typically, patient’s eyeglass prescription will change often as the vision becomes worse and contact lenses will be difficult to wear due to discomfort and improper fit.
When keratoconus become more severe (which usually takes a long time however on occasion can happen rather quickly), the cornea can begin to swell and form scar tissue. This scar tissue can result in even further visual distortion and blurred vision.
Altogether, these changes can create the following symptoms:
- Blurred vision
- Streaking of lights
- Halos around bright lights at night; glare
- Sudden change of vision in only one eye
- Objects appear distorted, both near and distant
- Double vision from just one eye
- Triple ghost images
How We Diagnose Keratoconus
Our eye doctors will inspect carefully for the signs of keratoconus during your comprehensive eye exam. It’s critical to inform us of any symptoms that you’ve been experiencing. To diagnose the condition, we’ll measure the shape of your cornea. Computerized Corneal Topography is used for this procedure, which takes a picture of your cornea and analyzes it instantly.