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New Hansatome head reduces postoperative epithelial defects
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NICE, France — The Hansatome microkeratome with a new zero-compression head significantly reduced the occurrence of epithelial defects after LASIK in a study presented here.
"This new zero-compression head seems to be an excellent improvement to the Bausch & Lomb technology," said Thomas Kohnen, MD, here at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting. "The head reduces epithelial problems that can cause slower visual recovery, loss of best-corrected visual acuity after surgery and even diffuse lamellar keratitis."
Dr. Kohnen described a prospective, randomized study in which 74 patients underwent bilateral LASIK.
"One eye was randomized to the zero-compression head while the other eye was randomized to the standard Hansatome head," Dr. Kohnen said. During flap creation, there was no incidence of severe cutting or incomplete flap formation with either microkeratome head, he said.
"Twenty-one percent of eyes treated with the standard Hansatome head experienced epithelial defects intraoperatively, while only 2.7% of eyes treated with the zero-compression Hansatome head experienced these same problems," Dr. Kohnen said.
He attributed the positive results with the new head to the reduced or "zero" pressure applied to the cornea during flap creation.
"The cornea stays healthier. In fact, my results have been so good that I have recently changed all the microkeratome heads in my clinic to zero-compression," he said.