Researchers: LASIK works well for patients with high myopia

Philadelphia-Although many LASIK procedures have been performed and the technology is widely accepted there are still some questions regarding the maximum correction possible and efficacy with this technique, according to researchers.

In an article in the January 2008 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers from Miguel Hernandez University, Medical School, Alicante, Spain, and Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey, report on a study of patients with high myopia 10 years after LASIK. The findings show that LASIK for myopia over -10 D is a safe and effective procedure in the long-term.

The eyes of 118 patients with high myopia, preoperatively needing at least 10 D correction to achieve 20/20 vision, were evaluated 10 years following surgery. Uncorrected vision was 77% of best spectacle-corrected vision (BSCVA) before surgery. BSCVA improved one line. Only 5% of eyes lost more than two lines of BSCVA and 40% avoided the use of glasses. Sixty-one percent of eyes were within ±2 D at 10 years. Only two eyes (1%) developed corneal ectasia. The re-treatment rate was 27%.

"These results are extremely encouraging considering that this refractive correction implies the maximum limit of application of this technique. This study has allowed us to demonstrate that, in spite of the prejudices about the limits of LASIK technique, the results regarding predictability, efficacy and safety for high myopic patients are very good in the long term," according to lead investigator Jorge L. Ali, MD. "The optimum limit of predictability for this technique is around 10 D of myopia. This reference study, with a long-time perspective, allows us to know the safety, precision and limits of LASIK in highly myopic eyes."