Abstract

ROJAS ALVAREZ, Eduardo; GONZALEZ SOTERO, Janet; MIRANDA HERNANDEZ, Iramis  and  PEREZ RUIZ, Ariadna.   In vivo characteristics of the corneal epithelium vs size of the refractive error after Excimer laser treatment. Rev Cubana Oftalmol [online]. 2013, vol.26, n.2, pp.208-214. ISSN 0864-2176.

Objective: to describe the in vivo characteristics of the corneal epithelium and their association with the size of the treated refractive defect after LASIK. Methods: a prospective, longitudinal and descriptive study of 24 patients (48 eyes) with myopic astigmatism, who were operated on by using ESIRIS (Schwind-Germany) and LASIK technique with pendular microketatome. Summary statistic techniques served to analyze results. NIDEK´s ConfoScan 4 microscope was used to obtain and to study in vivo corneal tissue images. Results: mean central epithelial thickness measured in the preoperative stage was 34.7 mm, but increased by 36% seven days after surgery in patients with refractive defects fewer than 4D and by 44% in patients with refractive defects equal to or over 4D. The average cell density of the basal epithelium 7 days postoperatively was 5 098.3±1 654 cell/mm² and showed minimal changes below 1% during the study period. Conclusions: the central corneal epithelium thickness increased after LASIK surgery and it was higher in refractive defects over 4D. Cell density of the basal epithelium did not show significant changes and was not associated to the size of the treated refractive defect.

Keywords : corneal epithelium; LASIK; confocal microscopy; refractive defect.

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