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Optimized prolate ablation profile minimizes spherical aberration after LASIK
An optimized prolate ablation profile compared favorably with conventional LASIK ablation in terms of visual and refractive outcomes, and it induced less spherical aberration, a study found.
“Optimized prolate ablation treatment resulted in better postoperative corneal topography that was similar to preoperative topography, larger horizontal diameter of the effective optical zone, decreased induction of spherical aberration, and near normal postoperative asphericity in 94% of eyes,” the study authors said.
The prospective study included 37 myopic patients with a mean age of 26.3 years. Patients underwent LASIK with the Quest excimer laser platform (Nidek) with an optimized prolate ablation profile in one eye and conventional ablation in the fellow eye. All eyes were targeted for emmetropia.
Visual acuity, refraction, topography and spherical aberration were compared at 6 months or 12 months.
Study results showed that uncorrected distance visual acuity was 20/20 or better in 97% of eyes in the optimized prolate ablation group and 94% of eyes in the conventional ablation group. No eyes lost two or more lines of distance corrected visual acuity.
Manifest refraction spherical equivalent was –0.16 D in the optimized prolate ablation group and –0.05 D in the conventional ablation group. The between-group difference was not clinically significant.
Ocular spherical aberration was –0.003 µm in the optimized prolate ablation group and +0.102 µm in the conventional group (P < .05). Corneal asphericity was 0.30 in the conventional ablation group and 0.07 in the optimized prolate ablation group; the difference was statistically significant (P < .001), the authors said.