FLEx results stable after 10 years
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Patients who underwent femtosecond lenticule extraction for the treatment of myopia and myopic astigmatism had stable results 10 years after the procedure.
All 108 subjects from a 2006-2007 study of the FLEx procedure were invited to be reevaluated in this long-term follow-up study conducted by Helios Klinikum Erfurt and Philipps University of Marburg, Germany. Forty patients, totaling 77 eyes, participated.
Five eyes of five patients lost one Snellen line of corrected distance visual acuity after 10 years, with none of the patients losing two or more lines. More than half of patients gained one to two Snellen lines.
There was a mean regression of 0.18 D, whereas long-term follow-up of LASIK surgery shows a mean regression of up to 0.97 D.
“These first 10-year outcomes of FLEx refractive surgery produced results that were remarkably stable and without any late complications,” the study authors wrote.
Within the first 3 months after surgery, all patients were treated for dry eye symptoms, which is consistent with LASIK. There were no signs of keratectasia or late complications at 10 years.
Limitations of the study included the small number of subject eyes and the fact that the design of the original proof of principle study limited the data that could be compared. – by Rebecca L. Forand
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.