In the earliest days of laser vision correction, some patients complained of worsened night vision after the surgery some reported significant glare from light sources such as headlights at night, while others saw halos around bright lights. Occasionally, though much more rarely, patients undergoing the procedure still report such side effects.
Ophthalmologist Scott MacRae, M.D., professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Rochester Medical Center, recently studied the role of a patients pupil size in determining a patients outcome from the surgery. In a study of 340 patients, he found that generally the larger a patients pupils, the more likely that person is to have a problem with laser vision correction. MacRae also discussed the results at the recent annual meeting of the Association for Cataract and Refractive Surgery in San Francisco.
This is not a problem for most people, says MacRae, but as the procedure becomes more common, we have to make sure that we remain vigilant to protect and enhance peoples eyesight.
MacRae is part of a team that has used a technology known as adaptive optics to discover dozens of previously unknown subtle imperfections in the eye, and he has found that those imperfections loom more important as the pupil size gets larger. He reports that if a surgeon treats a large enough swath of the eye for such patients, those imperfections are minimized. His study shows that its essential that doctors trea
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Contact: Tom Rickey
trickey@admin.rochester.edu
585-275-7954
University of Rochester Medical Center
6-May-2003