PURPOSE: To determine the safety, efficacy, predictability and stability of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), three years after surgery, to correct high myopia or high myopic astigmatism in children with high anisometropia in whom conventional treatments had failed. METHODS: Nine eyes of 9 patients, 3 boys and 6 girls with a mean age of 11.5 years (range, 8 to 15 years) underwent LASIK using the Chiron Technolas 217 excimer laser. Minimum follow-up was 36 months. RESULTS: Three years after LASIK, uncorrected visual acuity improved by at least five Snellen lines in all eyes; five eyes (55.5%) were 20/50 or better without correction. Six eyes (66.6%), were 20/50 or better with correction and five eyes (55.5%) improved at least 1 line in the best spectacle corrected visual acuity (BSCVA). Due to amblyopia, no eye had uncorrected visual acuity of 20/20 or better. The mean spherical refraction equivalent decreased from -7.66 (± 3.75) D to -1.02 (± 1.26) D, and mean preoperative astigmatism decreased from -3.11 (± 2.09) D to -0.75 (± 0.25) D. Highest anisometropia was 1.5 D. CONCLUSION: Three years after surgery, LASIK seems to be a safe and effective option for the correction of high anisometropia in children from 8 to 15 years old, in whom conventional therapy had failed. The natural change in refraction related to maturation did not affect the use of appropriate spectacle correction.
Keratomileusis laser in situ; Myopia; Astigmatism; Treatment outcome; Adolescence; Child
