PURPOSE: To investigate the representation of the corneal structure with optical coherence tomography before and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy. METHODS: Twenty-four eyes of 24 patients with myopia and myopic astigmatism were prospectively studied. The corneal thickness and the corneal profile were assessed with slit-lamp-adapted optical coherence tomography preoperatively and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy. RESULTS: The attempted mean spherical equivalent of the refractive corrections was -6.7 +/- 3.6 (mean +/- SD) diopters with a mean calculated stromal ablation depth of 91 +/- 38 microm. The corneal optical coherence tomography was reproducible in all patients, demonstrating a mean decrease of central corneal thickness after epithelial debridement and excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy of 118 +/- 45 microm. The comparison of the calculated stromal ablation depth and the corneal thickness changes determined by corneal optical coherence tomography revealed a significant linear relationship with a correlation coefficient of 0.88 (P <.001). The flattening of the corneal curvature was confirmed in all patients with the optical coherence tomography system and correlated with the attempted refractive correction (r =.82, P <.001). CONCLUSIONS: The slit-lamp-adapted optical coherence tomography system presented in this study allowed noncontact, cross-sectional, and high-resolution imaging of the corneal configuration. This initial clinical evaluation demonstrated that corneal optical coherence tomography could be a promising diagnostic modality to monitor corneal changes of thickness and curvature before and after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
PURPOSE: To investigate the representation of the corneal structure with optical coherence tomography before and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy. METHODS: Twenty-four eyes of 24 patients with myopia and myopic astigmatism were prospectively studied. The corneal thickness and the corneal profile were assessed with slit-lamp-adapted optical coherence tomography preoperatively and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy. RESULTS: The attempted mean spherical equivalent of the refractive corrections was -6.7 +/- 3.6 (mean +/- SD) diopters with a mean calculated stromal ablation depth of 91 +/- 38 microm. The corneal optical coherence tomography was reproducible in all patients, demonstrating a mean decrease of central corneal thickness after epithelial debridement and excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy of 118 +/- 45 microm. The comparison of the calculated stromal ablation depth and the corneal thickness changes determined by corneal optical coherence tomography revealed a significant linear relationship with a correlation coefficient of 0.88 (P <.001). The flattening of the corneal curvature was confirmed in all patients with the optical coherence tomography system and correlated with the attempted refractive correction (r =.82, P <.001). CONCLUSIONS: The slit-lamp-adapted optical coherence tomography system presented in this study allowed noncontact, cross-sectional, and high-resolution imaging of the corneal configuration. This initial clinical evaluation demonstrated that corneal optical coherence tomography could be a promising diagnostic modality to monitor corneal changes of thickness and curvature before and after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
Authors: F D Verbraak; D M de Bruin; M Sulak; L A M S de Jong; M Aalders; D J Faber; T G van Leeuwen Journal: Lasers Med Sci Date: 2005-04-28 Impact factor: 3.161