LASIK possible in patients with systemic disease

Patients with certain systemic diseases may be able to undergo LASIK and achieve good postoperative visual results, according to one study.

Rosario Cobo-Soriano, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the Clínica Baviera, Madrid, conducted a retrospective, case-control study evaluating the efficacy of LASIK in patients with certain systemic diseases that have traditionally been considered “relative or absolute contraindications” to LASIK, according to the study.

“In our experience, LASIK can be performed effectively and safely in selected patients with stable and controlled systemic diseases with favorable postoperative anatomic and visual outcomes. The absolute exclusion of certain systemic contraindications should be reconsidered,” they said in the study.

The study group involved 275 eyes of 141 consecutive patients. This included 62 patients with autoimmune connective-tissue disorders, 91 psoriasis patients, 67 patients with intestinal inflammatory diseases, 44 patients with diabetes mellitus and 18 patients with a history of keloid formation. Additionally, 39 patients (56 eyes) were receiving systemic immunosuppressive therapy, according to the study.

The researchers compared both the anatomic and functional outcomes of patients to a control group of 358 eyes of 181 healthy people.

They found that both groups experienced similar rates of mild anatomic complications, with no statistical differences between groups, according to the study.

“[The] only significant finding was a worse refractive outcome in the collagen vascular diseases group compared with controls. There were no other statistical differences detected in the other systemic disease groups,” the authors said.

The study was published in the July issue of Ophthalmology.