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Corneal haze risk high during LASEK, surgeon says
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CLEVELAND — Significant corneal haze may occur after what a surgeon believes is successful laser epithelial keratomileusis, according to a poster presentation here.
“Despite being effective, LASEK is a challenging procedure,” said Maria Regina Chalita, MD, at the International Congress on LASEK and Advanced Surface Ablation.
Dr. Chalita described a retrospective study that included 20 eyes of 14 patients who underwent LASEK. At 1 month, 94% of the patients achieved vision of 20/40 or better. At 3 months, 100% of patients achieved 20/40 or better, and at 6 months 91% achieved that level.
At 1 month after surgery, corneal haze of grade 0.5 was reported in 35% of patients, of grade 1 in 2% and of grade 2 in 5% of patients. At 3 months after LASEK, the level of haze had increased, with 62% of patients demonstrating grade 0.5 haze and 31% with grade 1. At 6 months postop, grade 0.5 haze was present in 58% of patients, grade 1 in 25% and grades 2 in 8% of patients.
“Creating the epithelial flap is not simple. This may have contributed to the high haze incidence in our study,” Dr. Chalita said.
She suggested that the haze could have been induced by the administration at 1 month of fluorometholone acetate.