EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/78719
94 EW MEETING REPORTER February 2012 Reporting live from the 2012 International Military Refractive Surgery Symposium Ectasia, topography readings hot topics among military refractive surgeons E arly in January, military re- fractive surgeons convened in San Antonio for the 6th Annual International Mili- tary Refractive Surgery Symposium to exchange ideas, de- bate with peers, and listen to the lat- est research from colleagues stateside and abroad. Air Force, Army, and Navy repre- sentatives kicked off the meeting with an overview of the state of re- fractive surgery in each branch. The Air Force reported 84,595 refractive treatments between fiscal year (FY) 01 and December of FY 12. Ninety- four percent of patients had 20/20 vision or better 12 months out, while 32% had best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/15 or better. "No aviator has been grounded as a direct result of refractive surgery, and I think that speaks a lot to the quality of the program," said Maj. Vasudha A. Panday, M.D., San Antonio. Since 2000, the Army has re- ported more than 216,000 refractive procedures and has seen a shift in the types of patients being treated. "Hyperopic patients are coming back into the fold over the last year or two because of the current status of the excimer platforms," said Col. Mark F. Torres, M.D., U.S. Army Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, Wash. The Army is seeing a shift back toward LASIK over surface ablation for a combination of reasons includ- ing a hyperopic patient population, femtosecond technology allowing for safer and more predictable flap creation, and speed of recovery. The Navy also described a trend Editors' note: This Meeting Reporter contains original reporting by the EyeWorld news team from the 2012 IMRSS in San Antonio. toward LASIK, which accounted for 47% of the nearly 13,000 refractive procedures in FY 11. Capt. Elizabeth M. Hofmeister, M.D., head, Navy Refractive Surgery Cen- ter, San Diego, reported on a num- ber of recent research projects, including topical cyclosporine in LASIK and photorefractive keratec- tomy (PRK), which examined if Restasis (Allergan, Irvine, Calif.) sped up visual recovery in normal patients. The study found no benefit of topical cyclosporine. "That is an example of good evidence-based medicine where we saved the DOD countless dollars in not using that very expensive med- ication for routine patients," she said. Future studies on the horizon include a head-to-head comparison of the Navy's wavefront-guided and wavefront-optimized platform. In September 2011, the Navy began en- rollment in an FDA study, Patient Reported Outcomes with LASIK. Dr. Hofmeister gave an overview of her visits to all Navy Refractive Surgery Centers, highlighting some successes, tips, and challenges of the centers. "Jacksonville is one example where they have solved some of the facility issues that others of us have faced," she said. "They have a beau- tiful, large room that accepts all three of their lasers, and they have climate control, which has been a big issue at some of our centers."