Iris recognition makes no difference to wavefront-guided LASIK outcomes

There are no statistically significant differences in outcomes when wavefront-guided LASIK is performed with or without iris recognition (IR), according to a report published in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Theeraptep Tantayakom and colleagues from the Shiley Eye Center, University of California San Diego, California, US conducted a retrospective analysis of 112 eyes of 64 patients who had undergone wavefront-guided LASIK using the VISX CustomVue S4 IR platform (AMO) for either myopia or myopic astigmatism. The safety, efficacy, predictability and need for enhancement at three-month follow-up were analyzed and compared between those in the IR group and those in the non-IR group.

At three-months follow-up, 93% of eyes in the non-IR group and all eyes in the IR group had the same best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) as preoperatively or had gained one or two lines. No eye in either group lost more than one line (p=0.12). Furthermore, 96% of eyes in the IR group and 93% of eyes in the non-IR group were within ±0.50 D of the postoperative manifest refraction spherical equivalent (p=0.24) and all eyes were within ±1 D of emmetropia. Just four eyes in the IR group and 11 in the non-IR group required enhancements during the follow-up period (p=0.1).

It was the conclusion of Dr Tantayakom and co-workers that there are no differences in measured outcomes of wavefront-guided LASIK, whether IR is used or not.