Patients with thin corneas are now able to benefit from
Lasik eye surgery, despite being rejected for treatment in the past.
Many people have been turned down for
laser eye surgery as their corneas are too thin for the traditional procedure, which involves folding back a flap from the surface of the eye.
However, advanced surface ablation is now enabling such patients to be treated, with around 98 per cent of patients with thin corneas now able to benefit from the surgery.
Lourdes Benito, a business systems analyst who works with computers, told ABC News that her corneas had to be treated with the new Laseek procedure, where alcohol is used to remove the surface cells.
"They applied some drops to loosen the cells on top of the cornea, so [the ophthalmologist] could scrape the cells to the side, apply the laser, apply the cells back on and then apply a contact lens so my eye could heal."
She added: "I can wake up in the morning, when I do my makeup without having to do my contact lenses or put my glasses on - it's just great, I love it, it's the best thing I did."
The three advanced surface procedures, Laseek, Epi-Lasik and PRK, require a longer recovery time than normal Lasik eye surgery as the surface of the cornea needs to heal, but studies have shown the treatments to be safe and effective.
Eye surgery news : 31/01/2007
