Purpose: Ninety eyes were retreated to correct myopic regression, with
or without corneal haze, after primary photorefractive keratectomy (P
RK); astigmatism ranging from -0.50 to -3 diopters (D) was present in
43 eyes. Results: The sphere (mean +/- standard deviation) was -2.82 /- 1.74 D before repeat surgery. At 6 months, the mean was +0.30 D; at
1 year, it was -0.17 D, Patients were divided into two groups: group
1 included 56 eyes with little or no haze (less than or equal to 1). T
he mean sphere value for this group was -2.13 D before retreatment; at
1 year, it was -0.20 +/- 0.76 D, At 6 months, 84% of sphere values we
re within +/- 1 D of the intended correction, with a mean haze value o
f less than 0.5, similar to that before repeat surgery; there was a me
an gain of 0.25 Snellen line of best-corrected visual acuity, Astigmat
ism equal or greater than -0.5 D was present in 34 eyes (mean, -1.17 /- 0.55 D). At 6 months, astigmatism was reduced to -0.45 +/- 0.48 D,
The second group included 34 eyes with corneal haze greater than 1 (me
an, 2.7). The mean sphere value was -3.95 D before photorefractive ker
atectomy and -0.12 +/- 1.48 D 1 year after treatment, Fifty percent of
the mean sphere values were within +/- 1 D at 6 months, with a mean h
aze value of 1, The gain in mean best-corrected visual acuity was 1.3
Snellen lines. The mean astigmatism in nine eyes was -1.75 +/- 0.75 D
before photorefractive keratectomy and -0.72 +/- 0.78 D 6 months after
treatment. Conclusion: There is a significant difference in the outco
me predictability between the two groups. A second photorefractive ker
atectomy can be done 6 months after the primary treatment in patients
with regression with or without trace haze. This group has a high pred
ictability in achieving a good correction, with a low complication rat
e. When haze is present, retreatments are less predictable with 40% of
patients overcorrected. Generally, however, these eyes have a statist
ically significant decrease in haze (Student's t test; P < 0.01) and a
n improvement in best-corrected visual acuity.