IS ASPHERIC LASER TREATMENT EFFECTIVE?
We many times wonder when planning a treatment if it is worthy to apply a personalized treatment to a patient. Is it worthy?. Is it cost-effective?.
Laser manufacturers persuade us to use this kind of treatments. Many times we do not know how much effect they have in vision and even if it is true what they tell us they do.
When using the platform Technolas Z 100P, we have the possibility of using the so called “aspheric treatment”. With this kind of treatment and when treating myopia or simple or compound myopic astigmatism, we flatten the cornea but tending to maintain, to certain extend, its prolate shape. Other possible treatment, called “plano-scan”, will flatten the cornea but will not pay any attention to asphericity (Q) and therefore will convert the normal prolate-shaped cornea in oblate-shaped cornea.
We selected 76 eyes in each group matching age (34,2 years in the plano-scan group and 36 years in the aspheric group), error to be corrected (-3,79 diopters spherical equivalent in the plano-scan group and -3,71 diopters spherical equivalent in the aspheric group) and preoperative asphericity (Q -0,168 in the plano-scan group and Q -0,18 in the aspheric group).
All eyes were operated by the same surgeon (JRV) and with the same technique.
At 6 months postop the aspheric treatment eyes had a mean Q of 0,1, while the plano-scan eyes had a mean Q of 0,31.
In conclusion, aspheric treatment reduces the tendency to turn prolate corneae into oblate corneae.
Authors: José R. Villada, Zaira Novoa, Julian Tendero
None of the authors has any financial interest or receives any bonus from the companies mentioned