Corneal epithelial thickness one year after myopic LASIK surgery, measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography combined with Placido disk

J Díaz-Bernal; I García-Basterra; J Mora-Castilla; A Moreno Guerrero

doi:10.1016/j.oftal.2020.03.004

Corneal epithelial thickness one year after myopic LASIK surgery, measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography combined with Placido disk

Arch Soc Esp Oftalmol (Engl Ed). 2020 Nov;95(11):544-549. doi: 10.1016/j.oftal.2020.03.004. Epub 2020 Apr 27.

[Article in English, Spanish]

Authors

J Díaz-Bernal¹, I García-Basterra², J Mora-Castilla³, A Moreno Guerrero⁴

Affiliations

¹ Departamento de Oftalmología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, España. Electronic address: Jose.diaz.bernal1@gmail.com.
² Departamento de Oftalmología, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, España.
³ Clínica Oftalmológica Antonio Moreno, Málaga, España.
⁴ Clínica Oftalmológica Antonio Moreno, Málaga, España; Departamento de Oftalmología, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, España.

PMID: 32349906
DOI: 10.1016/j.oftal.2020.03.004

Abstract

Objective: To compare corneal epithelial thickness (CET) between patients who underwent LASIK surgery for the correction of myopia at least one year ago and healthy subjects.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted that included 93 healthy subjects (186eyes) and 26 subjects (52eyes) that underwent myopic LASIK surgery. OCT-SA, combined with Placido disk, was performed on all subjects, and CET maps were measured. Statistical analysis was performed to analyse differences between groups. Multivariate analysis was also performed to look for possible predictors of final CET.

Results: There was no statistically significant differences between the groups in the demographic (age, sex) or anterior segment parameters (spherical equivalent, pachymetry) (all P>.05). Statistically significant differences (P<.05) were obtained between both groups when comparing CET, including central, internal, and external rings (higher in patients that underwent LASIK surgery ≥1year). With the exception of the time elapsed since surgery (P=.00), no correlation was found between the CET and age, sex, ablated dioptres, or other variables studied (P<.05).

Conclusions: CET values measured by the OCT-SA were higher in patients that underwent LASIK surgery ≥1year. The only variable that correlated with the CET after LASIK was the time elapsed since surgery. CET changes should be taken into consideration when planning refractive surgery due to its implications on the final outcome.

Keywords: Anterior segment optical coherence tomography; Corneal epithelium; Epitelio corneal; Epithelial thickness; Grosor epitelial; Keratomileusis; Keratomileusis asistida por láser; Laser in situ; Láser in situ; Tomografía de segmento anterior.