Fortnightly Review: Treating myopia with the excimer laser: the present position

BMJ 1995;310:979-985 (15 April)

Education and debate

David S Gartry, fellow in corneal and anterior segment surgery ^a

^a Moorfields Eye Hospital, London EC1V 2PD

Summary points

Excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy is the latest in a long line of surgical treatments for myopia (short sightedness)
Around 50 centres (including three research centres) in the United Kingdom offer this treatment and tens of thousands of patients have been treated worldwide
Considerable individual variation in corneal wound healing exists following photorefractive keratectomy, and this limits the predictability of the procedure
Predictability of refractive outcome is much better for lower amounts of myopia (up to around - 6.00 dioptres)
Important side effects exist which are all more common in people with higher myopia (regression, corneal haze, loss of best corrected visual acuity)
Overall patient satisfaction is high and around 85% of patients are pleased with the outcome even if this is a partial correction only
Careful patient selection and counselling are vitally important, and all patients must be fully informed of possible side effects

Elective procedures for normal conditions need high standards: Michael Gilkes
BMJ 1995 311: 58. [Extract] [Full Text]

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Gilkes, M. (1995). Elective procedures for normal conditions need high standards. BMJ 311: 58a-58 [Full text]