Twenty-eight eyes with myopic astigmatism were treated utilizing a 4 x 12 mm ablation zone for astigmatism and 4.5 mm to 6.6 mm transition zone for the spherical component at the same session. All eyes received dexamethasone eye drops for 3 months. In three cases there was one line loss and in two cases there was two line loss in best corrected spectacle visual acuity. Early results from this study suggest that excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy effectively reduces myopic astigmatism. The treatment of astigmatism offers a new challenge for excimer laser corneal surgery.
Lasers utilize different methods to control the beam that reshapes the cornea.
Informed consent was obtained from each patient. Those with any ocular disease were excluded. In all our cases, the energy level was set so that 65 shots were needed to ablate the foil. The Keracor 116 has two HeNe lasers for focusing, and one for centering. The third one also randomly vibrates as this laser has a built in wobbling mechanism to achieve a smoother ablated surface.