Estimation of the Ablation Depths Created by the Zeiss Meditec Excimer Laser-80 (MEL-80)

Objective: To study the safety, efficacy and predictability of the Zeiss Meditec Excimer Laser-80 (MEL-80) in the correction of myopic and astigmatic errors as well as to estimate the actual ablation depths created by the machine. Patients and Methods: 58 eyes of 29 with myopia and/or myopic astigmatism seeking refractive surgery were included in this study. Main Outcome Measures: The mean un-corrected visual acuity improved from 0.16±0.10 to 0.95±0.13 postoperatively. 43 eyes out of 58 (74%) had a postoperative spherical equiv- alent within ±0.5 Diopters of the emmetropic refraction. The actual ablation depths created by the machine was found to be less by about 10% than the estimated ablation depths preoperatively. Conclusions: Correction of myopic and astigmatic refractive errors using the MEL-80 excimer laser was found to be safe and effective with a 10% less corneal tissue ablation than what was theoretically estimated preoperatively. N.B.: The author has no financial interest in any of the medications or devices used in this study.