Severe Corneal Morphological Alterations after Excimer Laser Surface Ablation for a High Astigmatism

Anna M Roszkowska; Giovanni W Oliverio; Giuseppe A Signorino; Mario Urso; Pasquale Aragona

doi:10.1159/000516311

Severe Corneal Morphological Alterations after Excimer Laser Surface Ablation for a High Astigmatism

Case Rep Ophthalmol. 2021 Jun 11;12(2):492-496. doi: 10.1159/000516311. eCollection 2021 May-Aug.

Authors

Anna M Roszkowska¹, Giovanni W Oliverio¹, Giuseppe A Signorino¹, Mario Urso¹, Pasquale Aragona¹

Affiliation

¹ Ophthalmology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University Hospital of Messina, Messina, Italy.

Abstract

We report long-term alterations of anterior corneal stroma after excimer laser surface ablation for a high astigmatism. The patient claimed progressive visual loss in his right eye (RE) during the last 3 years after bilateral laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK) surgery. His examination comprised visual acuity (UDVA and CDVA), slit-lamp examination, corneal topography and tomography, AS-OCT, and confocal microscopy. The UDVA was 0.1 in his RE and 1.0 in the left eye. The CDVA in the RE was 0.8. The slit-lamp examination showed a stromal lesion in the inferior paracentral corneal zone, with multiple vertical tissue bridges and severe thinning. Corneal topography and tomography showed central flattening with inferior steepening and severe alteration in elevation maps. AS-OCT showed void areas in the anterior stroma with thinning of the underlying tissue, and confocal images were not specific. In this case, progressive corneal steepening and thinning that manifest topographically as inferior ectasia occurred in correspondence to the singular stromal alterations after LASEK.

Keywords: Corneal alterations; Excimer laser; Refractive surgery complications.

Publication types

Case Reports