Abstract
Purpose:
To determine the correlation between the changes in the corneal power and the visual outcome following inlay implantation to correct hyperopia.
Methods:
Five subjects underwent corneal inlay implantation on their non-dominant eye. Topography maps using Pentacam HR were taken to obtain corneal thickness, best-fit sphere radii of anterior and posterior corneal surfaces and corneal power, prior, and at 5 time points up to two months post-operative. The visual outcome using standard subjective techniques was measured which data were then converted into power vector coordinates (M, J0, J45).
Results:
Corneal thickness measured at pupil center significantly increased by (mean ± SD) 22.5 ± 19.4 µm at two months post-operative time point. The mean anterior corneal radius of curvature significantly steepened by 0.21 ± 0.12 mm and there were no statistically significant changes for the posterior corneal radius of curvature. The mean corneal power increased by +1.86D and the mean spherical refraction increased by +2.21D; both statistically significantly. However, neither achieved the full targeted correction of +3.80D.
Conclusions:
Corneal thickness changes measured at pupil center significantly increased for the inlay eyes, reflecting the additive nature of the procedure. However, the cornea did not thicken to the full added thickness of the inlay, possibly due to epithelial thinning and potential sources of image misalignments. Significant steepening of the anterior corneal surfaces showed positive results for the corneal shape changes induced by the inlay implantation. These changes in the corneal shape were highly correlated with the visual outcome, although, the corneal power slightly underestimated the refraction change.
Keywords: 479 cornea: clinical science •
682 refractive surgery: other technologies •
547 hyperopia