Long-term refractive results of myopic LASIK complicated with intraoperative epithelial defects.
Esquenazi S, Bui V.
Department of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience Center for Excellence, LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, La 70112, USA. sesque@lsuhsc.edu
PURPOSE: To evaluate the long-term refractive results of LASIK for myopia complicated with intraoperative epithelial defects. METHODS: Twenty-six eyes with epithelial defects on the LASIK flap were compared with the contralateral eye that had no intraoperative complications. Pre- and postoperative data were compared between the two groups including 3-, 6- and 12-month postoperative spherical equivalent refraction, amount of undercorrection, and complications. RESULTS: Eyes with intraoperative epithelial defects showed more undercorrection at 3 and 6 months postoperatively (P < .05). No statistically significant difference was noted at 12 months. Twenty (76%) eyes in the epithelial defect group lost best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) at 3 months postoperatively compared with 2 (7%) eyes in the control group. By 1 year, however, only 2 (7%) eyes in the epithelial defect group and no eyes in the control group lost > 1 line of BSCVA. Diffuse lamellar keratitis was observed in 15 (58%) of 26 eyes with epithelial defects and these eyes had more undercorrections at 6 and 12 months (P < .05) and higher corneal irregularity index at 6 and 12 months compared with controls (P < .05). Eyes with small epithelial defects (> 1 mm2 to < 3 mm2) had more undercorrections at 6 months (-1.08 +/- 0.76 diopters [D]) compared with the control group (-0.46 +/- 0.87 D). Eyes with centrally located epithelial defects had more undercorrections and increased corneal irregularity index compared with controls (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative epithelial defects after LASIK should be considered a severe complication that may result in diffuse lamellar keratitis, induce loss of BSCVA, prolong recovery of visual acuity, and induce undercorrection.
PMID: 16447937 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]