Laser vision correction reaching 95% accuracy in myopia cases

ATLANTA — In the literature, 95% of myopic patients are achieving uncorrected visual acuity of 20/20 after custom laser vision correction, a surgeon said here. In custom hyperopic patients, similar success is being reported in 70% to 80% of cases.

"In the old days, 7 years ago, we were seeing maybe 95% 20/40 or better uncorrected. So there's a shift in terms of our accuracy," Scott MacRae, MD, said during Refractive Surgery Subspecialty Day preceding the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting.

The current limits of myopic treatment are 10 D to 12 D of myopia, depending on corneal thickness, age and pupil size.

Current limits of hyperopic treatment are 4 D to 6 D of hyperopia. These cases are more likely than myopia cases to regress, he said.

In high levels of hyperopia, especially in patients older than 50 years, a surgeon can consider doing a clear lens extraction, Dr. MacRae said.

This paper is an excellent revision of the ophthalmic literature by Dr. Scott McRae. His research demonstrates that excimer laser surgery is probably one of the best options to correct refractive defects since it is very safe and particularly extremely effective. Not too many surgeries can produce 20/20 uncorrected visual acuity in 95% of myopia cases. For hyperopia, traditionally a defect very difficult to treat, excimer laser surgery is also very effective with more than 80% of the cases with 20/20 vision. In his paper, Dr. MacRae pays tribute to the technological advancements involved in this type of surgery, something that has raised the bar for the final result: 20/40 was an excellent standard 7 years ago, but today, the standard is 20/20.

Gustavo Tamayo, MD
OSN Latin America Edition Board Member