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Femtosecond laser helps maintain stability of thin corneas

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GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Using a femtosecond laser helps maintain corneal stability and achieve good postop visual results in myopic patients who have thin corneas, according to a study presented here.

Fernando Rodríguez-Sixtos Higuera, MD, and colleagues prospectively evaluated the efficacy of LASIK in corneal flaps that were approximately 90 µm thick. The study included 54 eyes of 28 myopic patients. In all cases, surgeons used the IntraLase femtosecond laser (IntraLase Corp.). Dr. Rodríguez-Sixtos Higuera presented the results at the Mexican Congress of Ophthalmology.

The researchers defined patients with thin corneas as those in whom they calculated would have less than 300 µm of residual stroma after subtracting ablation depth. Such patients would also have a flap thickness of 160 µm, Dr. Rodríguez-Sixtos Higuera said.

The mean intraoperative flap thickness was 96.8 µm, and mean residual stroma was 338.6 µm. Following surgery, the mean spherical equivalent improved to –0.22 D from –8.14 D preoperatively.

At 6 months follow-up, all patients had a best corrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better, and 90% of patients achieved 20/25 or better, Dr. Rodríguez-Sixtos Higuera said, noting the procedure had a 98% predictability.

“IntraLase with thin flaps is a safe and effective option for the correction of moderate and high myopia in patients with thin corneas in whom the use of a conventional microkeratome would have affected the security of the procedure or in whom LASIK would not have been possible,” Dr. Rodríguez-Sixtos Higuera said.