Wavefront-guided PRK treatment of myopia using a refractive aberrometer

Purpose: To evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and patient-reported outcomes of wavefront-guided photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for the correction of myopic refractive errors with and without astigmatism. Setting: U.S. multicenter study. Design: Prospective, nonrandomized clinical investigation. Methods: 334 eyes (167 patients) underwent wavefront-guided PRK with the STAR S4 IR Excimer Laser System. Patients had preoperative myopic refractive errors with sphere up to similar to 8.00 diopters (D) and cylinder up to similar to 4.00 D with a maximum spherical equivalent (SE) of similar to 10.00 D. All eyes were targeted for emmetropia, and treatment plans were derived from the iDESIGN system wavefront measurements. Results: At 6 months, the point of refractive stability, 99.4% of eyes achieved 20/20 or better uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), 92% of eyes achieved 20/16 or better UDVA, 85.5% of eyes achieved manifest refraction SE (MRSE) within 0.50 D of target, mean SE was similar to 0.06, and less than 1% of eyes lost more than 2 lines of corrected distance visual acuity. Glare and halos occurred with similar or lower frequencies at 6 months vs preoperative. Results from the National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of life questionnaire showed statistically significant improvements at 6 months vs preoperative across most measures of vision-related functioning and well-being. Approximately 98% of patients reported high satisfaction with their overall vision at 6 months. Conclusions: Wavefront-guided PRK with the iDESIGN aberrometer was safe, effective, and predictable for the correction of low to moderate myopia with and without astigmatism and led to high patient satisfaction.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the safety, effectiveness, and patient-reported outcomes of wavefront-guided PRK for the correction of myopic refractive errors with and without astigmatism. The results showed that this technique is safe, effective, and predictable for correcting low to moderate myopia with and without astigmatism, and it leads to high patient satisfaction.