"This is the first study to show that environmental factors can affect LASIK outcomes," said Keith Walter, M.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology. "For best results, physicians should take these factors into account when calibrating laser equipment."

The results are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Walter found that a 10 percent increase in treatment room humidity meant an additional nine out of every 100 patients required an enhancement procedure. Results also were influenced by outdoor temperatures and humidity in the weeks before surgery, said Walter, with more enhancement surgeries required during the humid summer months.

The number of eyes requiring an enhancement procedure ranged from 0 percent in the winter months to 50 percent in September, when outdoor humidity was at its highest. During less-humid months, there was a tendency to overcorrect vision. During the more humid summer months, there was a tendency toward undercorrection.

In the study of 191 patients, Walter evaluated 12 variables that were suspected to affect LASIK results. These factors included age, sex, environmental factors such as room and outdoor temperature, and curvature of the cornea, the clear, front part of the eye that provides most of the focusing power.

LASIK, which stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea using an ultraviolet laser.

"The goal of LASIK should be for a maximum number of patients to achieve eyeglass-free vision with a single procedure," said Walter. "This study evaluated environmental variables that may influence outcomes."

Walter performed the surgery on 368 eyes,
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Contact: Karen Richardson or Shannon Koontz
krchrdsn@wfubmc.edu
336-716-4587
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
20-Apr-2004