Abstract
Purpose :
To assess the reactive changes of the superior and inferior corneal epithelial thickness profile induced by small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) for treatment of myopia.
Methods :
This prospective observational study included 16 eyes that were scheduled for myopic SMILE. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was applied to measure corneal epithelial thickness superiorly and inferiorly within the central 5-mm zone preoperative and postoperatively at various time points.
Results :
The average superior epithelial thickness increased from 51.4 ± 2.9 μm preoperatively to 55.9 ± 4.2 μm 6 months postoperatively and the average inferior epithelial thickness increased from 52.8 ± 3.0 μm to 57.2 ± 3.5 μm respectively. Average epithelial thickness increased 0.84% superiorly and 1.28% inferiorly of the preoperative thickness at 24 hours postoperatively, 2.4% and 4.8% at 1 week, 8.7% and 7.4% at 1 month, 9.6% and 8.4% at 3 months respectively.
Conclusions :
In this initial study of corneal epithelial thickness remodeling after myopic SMILE, significant epithelial thickening remains stable 3 months after the treatment superiorly and inferiorly.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.