Customized flap useful in eyes with previous incomplete flaps

Creation of a customized flap with the 60 kHz femtosecond laser (IntraLase FS, Advanced Medical Optics) can be useful in eyes with previous incomplete flaps created with a mechanical microkeratome, explained Bojan Pajic, MD, Olten, Switzerland.

Dr. Pajic presented the results of three cases of incomplete flaps, showing the shape, the depth, and the size with confocal scanning laser microscopy. At 2 months after the aborted procedure, the scars were homogenous and could be seen at a depth between 100 and 126 µm.

The customized flaps had a thickness of about 20 µm deeper than the original scars.

"A perfect LASIK flap was created even in the scar area," Dr. Pajic said. Patients had a best spectacle-corrected visual acuity postoperatively from 20/20 to 20/16.

"This procedure offers a high degree of precision and treatment safety even in the scar area after an incomplete flap with a mechanical microkeratome," he said.