February 25, 2019
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Hyperopic SMILE shows promise at 1-year follow-up

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ATHENS, Greece — Early results of ReLEx small incision lenticule extraction for hyperopia and hyperopic astigmatism seem to indicate that the technique offers promising results.

“Despite the common belief that hyperopic SMILE would never be possible, Zeiss engineers were able to create an excellent profile. Results are good, and at 1-year of follow-up, patients are highly satisfied,” Pavel Stodulka, MD, PhD, said at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Winter Meeting.

Stodulka is one of the investigators of an ongoing multicenter study supported by Zeiss that involves four centers in European countries and one each in China and India. The study will include up to 374 eyes, with hyperopia of 6 D or less and cylinder of 5 D or less. The highest intended correction is +7 D at the most hyperopic meridian, leading to a maximum postoperative K of 51 D.

“At our site, to date, we have enrolled 43 patients, and 82 eyes have already been treated. The negative lenticule, thinner in the center and thicker in the periphery to obtain a steeper corneal profile, is easy to create and extract,” Stodulka said.

He presented one of his first cases, a 36-year-old woman with high hyperopia of +4 D and astigmatism of +0.25 D in the right eye and +0.75 D in the left eye. At 1 year, uncorrected visual acuity and best corrected visual acuity are better than 20/20, and refraction is –0.5 D.

“We overcorrected a little at the beginning and had some astigmatism at 1 week, but refraction was then pretty stable over 1 year of follow-up,” Stodulka said.

Topography maps show well-centered, large optical zones “as it would be difficult to achieve with hyperopic LASIK,” according to Stodulka.

The results of the multicenter study will be presented in the near future, he said. by Michela Cimberle

Reference:

Stodulka P. Correction of hyperopia with hyperopic astigmatism by ReLEx SMILE: a case report. Presented at: ESCRS Winter Meeting; Feb. 15-17, 2019; Athens, Greece.

Disclosure: Stodulka reports no relevant financial disclosures.