PURPOSE: To assess long-term refractive and visual outcome of elliptical excimer laser penetrating keratoplasty (EELPK). METHODS: Inclusion criteria (17 eyes): (1) Primary central elliptical excimer laser penetrating keratoplasty in phakic eyes; (2) No other simultaneous procedure except cataract surgery in 6 eyes; (3) Interrupted sutures; (4) Complete sequence of follow-ups before EELPK, with all-sutures-in, with all-sutures-out; (5) No active inflammation at the time of EELPK. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refractive and keratometric astigmatism, topographic surface regularity index (SRI), surface asymmetry index (SAI) were determined in 5.9+/-3.3 years follow-up. RESULTS: BCVA improved from 0.2 preoperatively to 0.6 after suture removal (p<0.001). After suture removal, keratometric (4.9D/5.8D, p=0.01) and refractive cylinder (2.8D/4.4D; p<0.001) increased, and SRI and SAI decreased significantly (3.0/1.0; 1.9/0.9; p=0.01) compared to all-suture-in values. CONCLUSIONS: EELPK is effective in improving visual acuity. Despite topographic regularization, an increase of refractive more than keratometric astigmatism may occur after suture removal.
PURPOSE: To assess long-term refractive and visual outcome of elliptical excimer laser penetrating keratoplasty (EELPK). METHODS: Inclusion criteria (17 eyes): (1) Primary central elliptical excimer laser penetrating keratoplasty in phakic eyes; (2) No other simultaneous procedure except cataract surgery in 6 eyes; (3) Interrupted sutures; (4) Complete sequence of follow-ups before EELPK, with all-sutures-in, with all-sutures-out; (5) No active inflammation at the time of EELPK. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refractive and keratometric astigmatism, topographic surface regularity index (SRI), surface asymmetry index (SAI) were determined in 5.9+/-3.3 years follow-up. RESULTS: BCVA improved from 0.2 preoperatively to 0.6 after suture removal (p<0.001). After suture removal, keratometric (4.9D/5.8D, p=0.01) and refractive cylinder (2.8D/4.4D; p<0.001) increased, and SRI and SAI decreased significantly (3.0/1.0; 1.9/0.9; p=0.01) compared to all-suture-in values. CONCLUSIONS: EELPK is effective in improving visual acuity. Despite topographic regularization, an increase of refractive more than keratometric astigmatism may occur after suture removal.
Authors: S J Linke; L Ren; A Frings; J Steinberg; W Wöllmer; T Katz; R Reimer; N O Hansen; N Jowett; G Richard; R J Dwayne Miller Journal: Ophthalmologe Date: 2014-06 Impact factor: 1.059