LASIK Surgery Boosts Vision Long Term
Study Shows Vision Correction
From LASIK or PRK Lasts 10 Years After
Surgery
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Brunilda
Nazario, MD
on Monday, November 13, 2006
Nov. 13, 2006 -- If you're considering laser surgery to correct your
nearsightedness, you
can rest assured that the results will last long term.
A team of researchers from Spain tracked LASIK surgery (laser in-situ
keratomileusis) and its forerunner, PRK (photorefractive keratectomy). In both
procedures, the cornea is reshaped so
that light entering the eye focuses on the
retina in the back of the eye, as it does in those with normal vision.
"Our findings are that both are safe after 10 years," and the visual
correction holds for the most part, says researcher Jorge Alio, MD, PhD, an
ophthalmologist.
The study was presented at the joint annual meeting of
the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology.
The 10-Year Study
The study evaluated 200 eyes with nearsightedness (myopia) or with myopia and
astigmatism, an irregularly shaped cornea that blurs vision.
One hundred eyes were corrected with LASIK; the other 100 were corrected with
PRK. Both procedures use lasers.
On average, patients were 29 when the surgeries were done in 1995 and 1996,
Alio says.
The researchers measured each patient's vision 10 years later and evaluated
changes on the cornea, which reflect the stability of the procedure.
Most of the vision correction remained, he says. Ten years later, on average,
"they read the line [on the eye chart] above what they used to read [immediately
after the surgery]."
Put another way, he says, the vision of both groups regressed only slightly.
These patients were highly nearsighted to begin with, he says. After 10
years, the PRK patients' nearsightedness and the LASIK patients' vision
regressed only slightly, Alio says.
"This is a very good study," says James J. Salz, MD, a Los Angeles
ophthalmologist and long-time vision correction surgery researcher. The results,
he says, show that both eye procedures are "very stable" operations."
While the patients got a bit more nearsighted -- and the LASIK patients a bit
more than the PRK patients -- the results held fairly well, he says.
SOURCES: Jorge Alio, MD, PhD, professor and chairman of
ophthalmology, Miguel Hernandez University; medical director, Vissum Corp.,
Alicante, Spain. James J. Salz, MD, ophthalmologist, Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center, Los Angeles. News conference, Nov. 11, 2006, joint meeting, American
Academy of Ophthalmology and Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, Las Vegas.
© 2006 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.
Eyesight RSS