title: Successful Surgical Correction of Astigmatism using Customized Ablation Photorefractive Keratectomy.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the change in the degree of astigmatism in patients treated with customized ablation photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). This is a cross-sectional study that involved 92 otherwise healthy subjects with regular and irregular astigmatism ≥ 1.25 D (mean age: 39.09 ± 7.72 years; range: 20-59 years). All study subjects were treated with customized ablation PRK using a Technolas 217p Excimer Laser System. Before and 6 months after the surgery, a refraction assessment was conducted for each subject, and the effectiveness of the surgery for correcting astigmatism was evaluated. There was a significant change in astigmatism based on the results of an automated refraction exam of -1.67 ± 1.03 D (P < 0.001), from -2.51 ± 1.45 D preoperatively to -0.87 ± 0.94 D postoperatively. There was also a significant change in subjective refraction of -2.00 ± 1.25 D (P < 0.001), from -2.46 ± 1.52 D preoperatively to -0.46 ± 0.97 D postoperatively. Therefore, our results show that customized ablation PRK is effective for correcting astigmatism ≥ 1.25 D (P < 0.001).
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14416, Iran.
authors.forename: Hakimeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taheri
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmic Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14416, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahrokh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramin
keywords: Astigmatism; Customized Ablation; Excimer Laser; Photorefractive Keratectomy