Tuesday, November 13, 2007 

LASIK Thought Of the Day: Trends

Having just returned from the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans, we had an opportunity to hear many lectures, and chat informally with colleagues from all over the planet. Here are some thoughts about where we have been and where we are headed. Laser vision correction has been around for 20 years. Patients in whom PRK was performed many years ago are stable, and seeing well. There is still concern about complications, particularly ectasia, a progressive thinning of the cornea. This is a rare complication. It occurs more with LASIK than with PRK. Patients with ectasia may have had abnormal corneas before having LASIK. But LASIK seems to hasten the thinning process. Bewer instrumentation seems to be helpful in detecting abnormal corneas.The average LASIK patient is 39 years old and equal numbers of males and females have the procedure. Corneal flaps made with the IntraLase femtosecond laser have fewer complications than those made with the microkeratome. Currently, 28% of cases are performed with the IntraLase. Phakic intraocular lenses are being used for higher corrections (above -10), but most patients are reluctant to have an intraocular procedure.

Mitchell H. Friedlaender, M.D.
Scripps Clinic Laser Vision Center
La Jolla, CA
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  • I'm LASIKblog
  • From La Jolla, California, United States
  • Mitchell Friedlaender, M.D., is Head of the Division of Ophthalmology, and Director of the Laser Vision Center at Scripps Clinic, in La Jolla, CA, and Adjunct Professor at The Scripps Research Institute. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School, and received his ophthalmology training at Harvard University, and the University of California, San Francisco. He was a full time faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco before joining Scripps Clinic in 1986. He is the author of 6 books and over 250 scientific articles. He has lectured at universities throughout the world on conditions such as blepharitis, allergy, dry eye, and infection. He is the recipient of the Senior Honor Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and a member of the American Ophthalmological Society, an honor society composed of 300 leaders in ophthalmology. He has been listed every year, since 1986, in The Best Doctors in America.
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