Making Sense of 'Keratospeak'

Abstract

Most specialized fields develop their own technical terminology and jargon. Corneal surgery is no exception. The penchant for professional shorthand has produced jargon such as "keratorefractive" surgery, a Greek-Latin hybrid that flows easily from the tongue and pen of those enamored by neologisms. Some surgeons have become "keratotomists," and their patients are "keratotomized." Words have been invented, such as<i>lenticle</i>, instead of the correct term,<i>lenticule</i>—the piece of tissue or synthetic material used to change corneal shape. Commercial trademarked terms have appeared; the donor lenticule used in epikeratoplasty has been dubbed Kerato-Lens. Eponyms abound. Common use of some colloquial terms has fixed them in our vocabulary. For example, some say "myopic keratomileusis" (Is the keratomileusis myopic?), instead of the more precise designation, keratomileusis for myopia. Thus far we have been spared "myopic radial keratotomy." To clarify the language we use in this rapidly changing area of ophthalmology, I propose