LASER EPITHELIAL KERATOMILEUSIS (LASEK) FOR MYOPIA IN PATIENTS WITH THIN CORNEA

Background – We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and patient satisfaction of laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK) for myopia in patients with thin cornea. Methods – Seventy-one eyes of 56 patients with myopia of –1.50 to –8.75 diopters (D) and corneal thickness of 451 – 499 microns were enrolled in this prospective clinical study. Slit-lamp examination, manifest refraction, uncorrected and spectacle-corrected visual acuity, and videokeratography were done before surgery. Patients were visited in the first 7 days, and also at 1st and 3rd months after the surgery. Results – All patients were examined in the first 7 days and at 1st month, while 48 eyes (71%) were examined 3 months after the surgery. At 3rd month, 46 eyes (95.8%) had an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better, 37 eyes (77.1%) had an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/20 or better, 36 eyes (75%) had a spherical equivalent (SE) within ± 0.50 D, and 46 eyes (96%) had a SE within ± 1.00 D. The mean corneal thickness was 409 ± 23 microns (SD) with a minimum of 372 microns. The epithelial healing time was 3.37 ± 1.05 days (SD). The mean subjective pain score in the scale of 0 to 3 (3 for severe) was 1.14 ± 0.75 (SD). One eye lost 2 lines of spectacle-corrected visual acuity, and no eye lost more than 2 lines. Thirty-four patients (82.9%) were very satisfied or satisfied with their operated eyes. Conclusion – LASEK was shown to be effective and safe in correction of myopia in patients with thin cornea in a short period of time. LASEK can be considered as an alternative for treatment of myopic patients whose corneal thickness is inadequate for laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).