Early outcomes of INTRACOR femtosecond laser treatment for presbyopia.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate early functional outcomes of the INTRACOR femtosecond laser-based intrastromal procedure to treat presbyopia.


METHODS
Twenty-five eyes of 25 presbyopic patients were enrolled in this prospective, ethics committee-approved study. Following detailed preoperative examination, the INTRACOR procedure was performed using the TECHNOLAS femtosecond laser (Technolas Perfect Vision GmbH) in the non-dominant eye. Postoperatively, follow-up examinations were performed at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 and 3 months, including near and distance visual acuity, slit-lamp microscopy, and corneal topography.


RESULTS
All 25 surgeries were uneventful. The mean postoperative uncorrected near visual acuity increased from 0.7+/-0.16 logMAR to 0.26+/-0.21 logMAR and the mean uncorrected distance visual acuity changed slightly from 0.11+/-0.11 logMAR to 0.05+/-0.1 logMAR at 3 months postoperative. Regarding best distance correction, mean sphere changed from +0.75+/-0.23 diopters (D) preoperatively to +0.15+/-0.31 D postoperatively and mean cylinder from -0.33+/-0.17 D to -0.42+/-0.23 D. Postoperative healing was uneventful, and in all eyes, the cornea was clear within a few hours after surgery without any remaining cavitation gas bubbles.


CONCLUSIONS
The INTRACOR procedure for presbyopia showed good visual acuity outcomes in the early postoperative period. The short treatment time in combination with maintained corneal integrity suggests this new technique has good potential for the treatment of presbyopia.
Holzer
Mike P
MP
University of Heidelberg, Department of Ophthalmology, International Vision Correction Research Centre, Germany. mike.holzer@med.uni-heielberg.de
Mannsfeld
Annett
A
Ehmer
Angela
A
Auffarth
Gerd U
GU
D000368:Aged; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000601:surgery*; D019781:Corneal Topography; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020731:Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ / Q000379:methods*; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011305:Presbyopia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology