REMOVAL OF CORNEAL EPITHELIUM WITH PHOTOTHERAPEUTIC TECHNIQUE DURING MULTIZONE, MULTIPASS PHOTOREFRACTIVE KERATECTOMY

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic mode of the VISX 20/20 excimer laser was u sed to remove the corneal epithelium prior to performing photorefracti ve keratectomy (PRK) with a multizone, multipass technique. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed of 120 eyes of 90 patients that were treated for preoperative spherical refractive errors from -1.00 t o -7.00 diopters (D) (mean -3.90 D, SD 1.54) by one surgeon (DGJ) over 7 months. RESULTS: Six-month follow-up was obtained in 76 eyes (63%), Sixty-nine eyes (91%) achieved a spherical equivalent refraction with in +1.00 D of emmetropia, Regression of effect averaged -0.35 D (SD 0. 53 D) from 1 to 6 months after surgery. Mean postoperative uncorrected visual acuity at 6 months was 20/25 (range 20/15 to 20/200), Seventy- three eyes (96%) achieved uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better , 67 (88%) achieved uncorrected visual acuity of 20/25 or better, and 76 (71%) achieved 20/20 or better. Three eyes (4%) lost one line of sp ectacle-corrected visual acuity; no eye lost more than one line. There were no significant surgical complications. CONCLUSION: Removal of co rneal epithelium with the Summit Excimed UV 200 LA excimer laser using multizone, multipass photoablation yields visual and refractive resul ts that compare favorably with published PRK series with excellent sho rt-term stability.