RADIAL KERATOTOMY DOES NOT AFFECT INTRAOCULAR-PRESSURE

BACKGROUND: Recent reports have suggested that a secondary effect of r adial keratotomy may be a reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) leve ls. METHODS: In an effort to study the relationship of radial keratoto my to IOP, we compared the mean IOP from the baseline and follow-up vi sits during year after surgery of operated versus nonoperated eyes of patients enrolled in the Prospective Evaluation of Radial Keratotomy ( PERK) study. To investigate if radial keratotomy had more of an effect on eyes with higher baseline IOPs, the same analysis was performed on a subset (134 patients) who had a baseline IOP of 15 mm Hg or greater , RESULTS: The average baseline IOP for both operated eyes and nonoper ated eyes was 14.6 mm Hg. There was no significant difference in mean IOP between operated and nonoperated eyes across all time points (p=.1 8). Although mean IOP changed over time, it did not clinically differ in operated versus nonoperated eyes at any time point. These findings were similar in the analysis of eyes with higher baseline IOP (15 mm H g or greater). CONCLUSION: We conclude that the radial keratotomy perf ormed in the PERK study had no effect on IOP within 1 year after surge ry.