LAS VEGAS, Nov 12, A 10 year study of patients who received Lasik
and PRK to reduce nearsightedness and astigmatism shows long term
stability and safety of laser eye surgery to reduce the need for
glasses. The study was presented by Jorge Alio, MD, PhD at the joint
annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
The study did not include results from wavefront-guided Lasik,
an advanced laser treatment technology not available in 1995 and
1996 when the study group received surgery.
One hundred eyes were corrected with Lasik plus 100 were corrected
with PRK, a similar procedure that also uses an excimer laser to
reshape the cornea (clear front of the eye). The researchers measured
each patient's vision repeatedly through the following 10 years
and evaluated changes on the cornea, which reflects the stability
of the procedures.
On average, ten years after Lasik and PRK, patients read the line
on the familiar "Big E" eye chart immediately above what they could
read at the time of surgery, indicating a small regression of effect
that may be affected by age related issues.
Jorge Alio, MD, PhD is professor and chairman of ophthalmology at
the Miguel Hernandez University in Alicante Spain.
