PURPOSE A preliminary study to evaluate the outcomes of high-resolution wavefront-guided (HRWG) photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with simultaneous corneal cross-linking (CXL) in ectasia eyes. METHODS Sixteen eyes of 11 patients (mean age 31.9±9.8 years; range: 15-48 years) with keratoconus or post-laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis ectasia underwent HRWG PRK with simultaneous CXL. Manifes...

BACKGROUND Progressive hyperopia is a common complication following radial keratotomy. METHODS Ten eyes of ten consecutive patients with hyperopia after radial keratotomy between +1.75 and +4.00 diopters (D) were treated with the hyperopia module of the Nidek Model EC-5000 excimer laser. The mean preoperative uncorrected visual acuity was 0.38 (20/60+). RESULTS After excimer laser photorefr...

PURPOSE To study the evolution of visual and refractive outcomes through the first year after simultaneous topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (t-PRK) and corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) in keratoconus. METHODS This retrospective case series included 85 eyes of 66 patients with a mean age of 26.3 ± 5.7 years, which underwent simultaneous t-PRK with accelerated CXL. Patients wer...

BACKGROUND Tetracaine and proparacaine are two of the most commonly used medications for providing topical anesthesia in laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). These agents have not been previously compared in a prospective manner to determine their efficacy in these settings. METHODS This prospective, single-masked, randomized study comprised 256 eyes fro...

PURPOSE To examine the differences in the biomechanical response of the peripheral regions of the cornea after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). SETTING Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University of Rome, Rome, Italy. METHODS Preoperative and 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month postoperative corneal topographies of 70 eyes that had PRK with the Technolas 217C excimer laser (Bausch & Lomb) were ...

INTRODUCTION Chilled saline is commonly used to irrigate the ocular surface after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and is often considered by the patients to be uncomfortable. Room temperature (non-chilled) saline may be a safe and less painful alternative. OBJECTIVES To compare pain and visual outcomes after irrigating the ocular surface with chilled saline versus room temperature saline in...

PURPOSE A prospective study was conducted to compare the effectiveness, safety, and stability of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) for correction of low to moderate myopia. METHODS Forty-five patients with a manifest refraction (PRK, -4.54 +/- 0.80; LASIK, -4.82 +/- 1.10) from -1.50 to -6.00 diopters (D) were treated and followed-up for 6 months. In ea...

Laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) is a powerful and simple method for full field imaging of blood flow. However, the depth dependence and the degree of multiple scattering have not been thoroughly investigated. We employ three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations of photon propagation combined with high resolution vascular anatomy to investigate these two issues. We found that 95% of the det...