Corneal approach of treating presbyopia

At the same presentation during ESCRS, Dr Jorge Castanera, Instituto de Ofalmolgía Castanera, discussed the corneal approach of treating presbyopia using an excimer laser. He performed a study on 46 eyes using the Technolas SUPRACOR technology, which is an aberration-optimized presbyopic algorithm designed for use on myopic, hyperopic and emmetropic eyes as well as post-LASIK patients.

In his study Dr Castanera was looking for very low induction of aberrations with a bifocal treatment so that both eyes are treated in the same way with the same protocol. He continued to say: "The most important point of SUPRACOR is that the near vision is done in a different ablation profile to minimize the induction of aberration in the pupil area." Aberration in this region of the eye is a common factor when performing presbyopic correction and can reduce the quality of both near and distance vision.

Additionally, he revealed that 100% of his patients claimed that they no longer needed glasses to read a newspaper or to work on the computer after surgery and that 96% of his patients were very happy with the results and would recommend it to a friend.

Dr Castanera concluded that: "this is a very fine algorithm for treating presbyopia that will change the way surgeons view presbyopic patients."

All the patients in this study were hyperopic patients but further studies are being performed. SUPRACOR is expected to receive the CE mark in 2011.