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OCT shows flap thickening after LASIK
Optical coherence tomography of corneas after LASIK showed thickening of the epithelium and the stromal flap at 1 week and 1 month postop, according to Jianhua Wang and colleagues.
The researchers studied 28 eyes of 14 patients who had undergone bilateral LASIK. The central thickness of the corneal epithelium and flap were measured with a real-time optical coherence tomography (OCT) at baseline and at 1 day, 1 week and 1 month postoperatively.
After surgery, the corneal epithelium changes were not significant at day 1. By 1 week postop, there was statistically significant thickening when compared with day 1. Corneal epithelial thickening remained statistically significant at 1 month when compared with all other follow-up times.
The corneal flap became statistically significantly thicker between 1 week and 1 week and between 1 week and 1 month postop.
The researchers said there was a strong correlation between the difference of preop and postop corneal thickness and the predicted laser ablation depth.
The study is published in the June issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.