title: Corneal optical coherence tomography before and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the representation of the corneal structure with optical coherence tomography before and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four eyes of 24 patients with myopia and myopic astigmatism were prospectively studied. The corneal thickness and the corneal profile were assessed with slit-lamp-adapted optical coherence tomography preoperatively and immediately after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The attempted mean spherical equivalent of the refractive corrections was -6.7 +/- 3.6 (mean +/- SD) diopters with a mean calculated stromal ablation depth of 91 +/- 38 microm. The corneal optical coherence tomography was reproducible in all patients, demonstrating a mean decrease of central corneal thickness after epithelial debridement and excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy of 118 +/- 45 microm. The comparison of the calculated stromal ablation depth and the corneal thickness changes determined by corneal optical coherence tomography revealed a significant linear relationship with a correlation coefficient of 0.88 (P <.001). The flattening of the corneal curvature was confirmed in all patients with the optical coherence tomography system and correlated with the attempted refractive correction (r =.82, P <.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The slit-lamp-adapted optical coherence tomography system presented in this study allowed noncontact, cross-sectional, and high-resolution imaging of the corneal configuration. This initial clinical evaluation demonstrated that corneal optical coherence tomography could be a promising diagnostic modality to monitor corneal changes of thickness and curvature before and after excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy.
authors: Augenklinik der Medizinischen Universität zu Lübeck (Drs Wirbelauer, Hoerauf, and Laqua), Lübeck, Germany. augen@knk-berlin.de
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Wirbelauer
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Scholz
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Hoerauf
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Engelhardt
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Birngruber
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Laqua
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001251:Astigmatism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007368:Interferometry; D054018:Lasers, Excimer; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009216:Myopia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D018903:Photorefractive Keratectomy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013016:Sound; D014054:Tomography