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Study finds better outcomes with wavefront-guided vs. conventional PRK for myopia
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Wavefront-guided PRK can be an effective option for patients with low to moderate myopia or myopic astigmatism, according to a study by researchers in Poland. The procedure induced fewer higher-order aberrations and produced better uncorrected vision compared with conventional PRK, the study authors noted.
Dorota Wigledowska-Promienska, MD, and Izabela Zawojska, MD, of Silesian University of Medicine evaluated the efficacy, safety and changes in higher-order aberrations between the two procedures performed on 126 eyes of 112 patients.
The researchers compared outcomes for 78 eyes treated with wavefront-guided PRK with 48 eyes treated with conventional spherocylindrical PRK.
They published their results in the July-August issue of European Journal of Ophthalmology.
At 2 years postop, the researchers found that 5% of wavefront-treated eyes had achieved an uncorrected logMAR visual acuity of 0.05 and 69% achieved UCVA of 0.00. Additionally, 18% of wavefront-treated eyes had an enhancement in visual acuity of -0.18, and 8% had an enhancement of -0.3.
In the conventional PRK group, 8% of eyes achieved UCVA of 0.1, 25% achieved 0.05 and 67% achieved 0.00, according to the study.
Regarding changes in higher-order aberrations, total higher-order root mean square increased 1.18 times in the wavefront-guided group and 1.6 times in the conventional PRK group. In addition, coma significantly increased by a factor of 1.74 in the conventional PRK group.
Spherical aberration increased by a factor of 2.09 in the wavefront-treated group and by a factor of 3.56 in the conventional PRK group, according to the study.
"This method reduced the number of higher-order aberrations induced by excimer laser surgery and improved uncorrected and spectacle-corrected visual acuity when compared to conventional PRK," the authors said.