FemtoLASIK for the correction of ametropia after penetrating keratoplasty: one-year follow-up

Session Details

Session Title: Presented Poster Session: Keratorefractive Surgery Results I

Venue: Poster Village: Pod 2

First Author: : L.Terracciano ITALY

Co Author(s): :    G. Albani   D. Mucciolo   S. Rizzo                 

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To evaluate the stability and visual outcome of residual ametropia correction after penetrating keratoplasty using a LASIK procedure with femto-laser flap creation.

Setting:

Eye Clinic, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.

Methods:

We evaluated 10 eyes of 10 patients who underwent keratoconus full-thickness keratoplasty. WaveLightⓇ Refractive Suite was used to create a 130 μm-lamellar flap with a superior hinge (flap diameter average: 0.2mm smaller than graft-host junction) and was centered inside the donor button; after flap creation, it was lifted and excimer laser ablation for refractive correction was performed. All patients were evaluated at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months post-op; main outcomes (uncorrected- and best-corrected visual acuity, spherical and cylindrical residual ametropia) were recorded.

Results:

At 12 months post-operative evaluation, all patients showed a significant improvement in their uncorrected visual acuity (mean: 0.13土0.19 vs. 0.39土0.24, p=0.0347), as well as in the spherical ametropia (mean: -3.32土3.05 vs. -0.14土0.87, p=0.0281). The other two outcomes had proved to be not statistically significant: both best corrected visual acuity and post-operative cylindrical ametropia p values were >0.05 (BCVA: 0.56土0.23 vs. 0.76土0.07, p=0.0536; cylindrical ametropia -5.25土3.51 vs. -3.11土2.59, p=0.108).

Conclusions:

we found this procedure to be safe and free of complications. Creating the flap with the femtosecond laser and performing excimer laser ablation within the corneal graft limits without involving the graft-host junction could minimize the risk of rejection, allowing good results in correction of spherical aberrations. Despite this, the correction of high cylindric ametropia after corneal transplantation is affected by technical and anatomical limits that do not always allow satisfactory results to be achieved; in these cases other approaches could be considered.

Financial Disclosure:

None