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There Is No Benefit to Deferring Laser Refractive Surgery

Arch Ophthalmol. 1998;116:669-672.

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HOW SAFE is laser refractive surgery? Five (1.2%) of 398 eyes lost 2 or more lines of best-corrected visual acuity at 1 year in the Summit study; the similar percentage for the VisX study was 11 (2.2%) of 520 eyes. Some have argued that best spectacle-corrected visual acuity is an inadequate measure of visual performance and have suggested that contrast sensitivity or low contrast acuity are better measures of the impact of laser refractive surgery on visual performance. Photorefractive keratectomy has minimal effect on contrast sensitivity.¹ On the other hand, of some concern is the mean loss of 1.5 lines of best spectacle–corrected low contrast undilated visual acuity in eyes undergoing PRK with a 5-mm optical zone.¹ In patients treated in 1996 with a 6-mm optical zone, however, the mean loss was 0.5 lines (unpublished data, Michael Olson, OD, PhD, Mark Bullimore, OD, PhD, and R.K.M., 1998). Corneal haze is . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Should Laser Refractive Surgery Be Delayed?; The Benefits in Deferring Laser Refractive Surgery Outweigh the Disadvantages
Leo J. Maguire
Arch Ophthalmol. 1998;116(5):667-668.
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