Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the stability, safety and efficacy in patients with thin corneas after Small-Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) surgery.
Methods :
Relevant data from the preoperative and postoperative medical records of patients undergoing SMILE refractive surgery with thin corneas (< 500 μm), values taken from the pachymetry of pentacam corneal topography, were retrospectively compared. The surgical procedure with its respective follow-up were performed at the Bogota Laser Ocular Surgery Center in Bogotá, Colombia. It is important to mention that all patients presented a normal and refractively stable topographic pattern at the time of evaluation. Patients with corneas larger than the aforementioned value were excluded.
Results :
A total of 18 eyes of 9 patients (5 women and 4 men) with thin corneas (<500μm) who underwent the SMILE surgical procedure to correct high myopia and astigmatism were included in the study. The average age was 26.5 years (range 20-32 years) and the follow-up time was 12 months.
The average preoperative UDVA was 1.75 logMAR, and the average postoperative UDVA significantly improved to 0.1 logMAR at the last follow-up. Additionally, of the 18 eyes, 14 eyes (77.7%) had an UCDVA of 20/20 and 4 eyes (22.2%) had an UCDVA of 20/25. The average preoperative CDVA was 0.1logMAR. In the initial evaluation of 18 eyes; 13 eyes (72.2%) had CDVA of 20/25 or less and 5 eyes (27.7%) had BCVA of 20/20 or better.
The mean preoperative UDVA and CDVA were 1.75 logMAR and 0.1 logMAR, respectively. At the last follow-up control, the UDVA improved to 0.1 logMAR and the efficacy index 1 (postoperative UDVA/preoperative CDVA).
At the last follow-up control, the average CDVA was 0.05 logMAR, and the safety index was 1.03. At the last assessment, no patient showed a loss of one or more BCVA lines. No complications such as ectasias during surgery or vision-threatening sequelae in the postoperative period were observed.
Conclusions :
SMILE is a safe, stable and effective technique with long-term stability for treatment of myopia in eyes with a thin cornea, and satisfactory results can be obtained. However, further studies are needed to confirm the results of the present study.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.