Satisfaction, success reported with laser vision correction in naval aviators

CHICAGO — Laser vision correction is successful and well-received in the naval aviation community, two naval ophthalmologists said here.

David J. Tanzer

David J. Tanzer, MD, and Charles D. Reilly, MD, presented data from two studies that showed high levels of visual correction and patient satisfaction.

"The military has unique and demanding visual requirements," Dr. Tanzer said at a press conference at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. For instance, he said, wearing contact lenses is prohibited when deployed to places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Korea.

Despite these requirements, Dr. Tanzer said the armed forces have treated more than 224,000 eyes and conducted more than 45 studies on laser vision correction since its introduction to the military in 2000.

He said that only one in 112,500 patients required medical disability retirement due to laser vision correction, equating to a 0.009% chance.

"An active duty member stands a 1.6 times greater chance of dying in a motor vehicle accident" than having to leave active duty because of laser vision correction, Dr. Tanzer said.

Dr. Tanzer presented a study of 30 class II aviators from the Navy and Marine Corps, 24 men and six women, an unbalance that he attributed to the makeup of the military in general.

The patients were treated with wavefront-guided LASIK using a femtosecond laser and underwent weekly exams for 4 weeks.

All eyes obtained 20/20 uncorrected visual acuity by 2 weeks postop, and 93% of eyes had best corrected visual acuity of 20/12 or better by 4 weeks postop, Dr. Tanzer said. When questioned on their satisfaction at 1 month, 95% of the patients said the procedure was helpful to their effectiveness as a naval aviator, and 100% would recommend it to a fellow naval aviator, Dr. Tanzer said.

"In summary, laser vision correction has been overwhelmingly successful in the military. It's shown tremendous operational benefits with the approval now for 8 years," Dr. Tanzer said. "Satisfaction is incredibly high."

Charles D. Reilly

Dr. Reilly presented similar results in his study of 55 aviators who underwent custom LASIK.

At 12 months postop, UCVA was 20/16, which was equivalent to the preoperative BCVA of 20/15, he said. Low contrast sensitivity was better at 3 months after LASIK, he added. No flap complications and no epithelial ingrowth have been identified, Dr. Reilly said.

"One word of caution about quality of vision complaints: If a pilot or an aviator complains about a quality of vision complaint following refractive surgery, they're grounded. So you have to take that with a grain of salt," Dr. Reilly said.