FS-laer assisted intrastomal arcuate keratotomy a success

Intrastromal arcuate keratotomy performed with a femtosecond (FS) laser has an excellent safety profile, rapid recovery and stability of vision, claims a new paper.

Dr Theresa Ruckel et al., Department of Ophthalmology, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria, conducted an interventional case series on 16 patients with corneal astigmatism. All patients were treated with an FS laser for paired arcuate cuts on the steep axis completely placed within the corneal stroma.

Patients were followed for six postoperative months. Preoperative and postoperative assessments included corrected and uncorrected visual acuities, manifest refraction, corneal topography, endothelial cell count, and corneal pachymetry. All patients answered a subjective questionnaire to evaluate patient satisfaction.

There were no perforations and all incisions were positioned at the planned locations. Mean refractive cylinder, after six months of follow-up, was reduced significantly from 1.41 D ± 0.66 to 0.33 ± 0.42 D.

Mean topographic astigmatism was reduced significantly from 1.50 ± 0.47 D preoperatively to 0.63 ± 0.34 D at the six months follow-up. The questionnaire results revealed that patient satisfaction was very high.

The FS laser is able to successfully treat corneal astigmatism without the risks linked to incisions that penetrate the Bowman membrane.

Please visit the latest online issue of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery to read the abstract.