Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 25 The study offers significant in- sights into caring for patients with corneal haze. First, SK appears to be a more ef- fective modality than PTK for haze treatment, Dr. Khakshoor suggested. In one report, for instance, only 37.5% of patients were within 1 D of emmetropia after PTK treatment, and mean BCVA after treatment was 7/10 (worse than the mean 20/20 achieved in this study). "These results demonstrate that PTK leads to less predictable and reg- ular stromal removal than mechani- cal keratectomy. PTK often results in overcorrection of myopia because re- fraction is imprecise in the presence of corneal haze," Dr. Khakshoor re- ported. "Moreover, the corneal sur- face is uneven after ablation because of presence of fibrous tissue in the corneal stroma." Haze can be treated with SK long after formation, according to Dr. Khakshoor's study. "Although surgery is more time consuming in these patients with old corneal haze, the results were comparable with that achieved in other patients," Dr. Khakshoor noted. MMC alone has been used to treat corneal wounds after excimer laser procedures, but some research has shown that haze returned some- what. But with all of the techniques used in this study, haze was elimi- nated or minimized and did not recur. EWCL use also showed promise. "This is based on an incidental find- ing in 1 patient who underwent PRK with MMC for correction of myopia (–6.5) of both eyes," Dr. Khakshoor noted. "After 1 month, the patient presented with corneal haze in the right eye (grade 3) where the contact lens had been lost. No evidence of corneal haze was observed in the left eye where the contact lens remained in place. It is possible that the bene- fit observed using EWCLs is from their effects in posterior distribution and reduction of stromal kerato- cytes." Dr. Khakshoor acknowledged that further research into EWCL effi- cacy is needed. Mohan Rajan, M.D., medical director, Rajan Eye Care Hospital, Chennai, India, reported that his clinic treats corneal haze after PRK by using topical steroids and lubri- cants like artificial tears. "After a period of time, the con- dition becomes all right," Dr. Rajan said. "It may take some time, a few months. It then tends to clear. Sometimes patients may have mini- mal haze in the end, but that's com- patible with fairly good vision. There can be a loss of contrast sensi- tivity." January 2011 The Matterhorn, Wallis, Switzerland See the beauty! ADVANCED TO THE MAXIMUM The new FEMTO LDV Crystal Line for Z-LASIK and corneal surgery Engineered in Switzerland Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AG a Ziemer Group Company Allmendstrasse 11, 2562 Port, Switzerland Z-LASIK, the obvious choice. www.ziemergroup.com he t e e S ! y t u a be he K a I S A L - r Z o f M E w F e e n h T E M H O T T N A VA D A e g r l su a e n r d co n K a l Li a t s y r V C D O L T M U M I X A E M D E C y r e e n l Li M U K a I S A L r Z o f r g er m e i z . w w w he ob , t K I S A L - Z e g r l su a e n r d co n K a m o c . p ou r . e c i ho s c u o i v he ob y r e Allmendstrasse , 2562 Port, Switzerland 1 1 Allmendstrasse a Ziemer Group Company phthalmic Systems AG O Ziemer continued on page 26

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