['To study how changes induced on corneal optics by myopic and hyperopic laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) refractive surgery affect the aberration compensation mechanism.', 'Interventional case series and modeling theory.', 'We measured ocular, corneal, and internal aberrations for a 6-mm pupil in 15 myopic and 6 hyperopic eyes with similar age range before and 6 months after standard LASIK. Ocular aberrations were measured using our own developed Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor, whereas corneal aberrations were calculated by using the elevation data obtained by corneal topography. Ocular, corneal, and internal root mean square (RMS), spherical aberration (SA), coma, and compensation factor were compared for each patient.', 'After myopic LASIK, we obtained an average 1.6-fold increase in ocular RMS, mainly positive SA, and coma, associated with a similar increase in corneal aberrations. In the hyperopes, we found a higher (2.3-fold) induction of ocular aberrations after surgery, mainly negative SA and coma, but without net increases of corneal aberrations. Aberration compensation clearly decreased or even inverted after hyperopic LASIK, decreasing the ocular optical quality in a higher level than myopic LASIK.'] Does laser in situ keratomileusis disrupt the aberration compensation mechanism of the human eye?