Abstract
Purpose :
Corneal aberrations are frequently altered by refractive surgery, a predictive factor for these changes has not been established. This study aims to investigate the relationship between preoperative biomechanical properties assessed using the Corneal visualization Scheimpflug technology (Corvis ST) and corneal aberrations in individuals who have undergone refractive surgery.
Methods :
A retrospective, observational, comparative study was made including 56 eyes who underwent refractive surgery, 14 of which underwent PRK and 42 LASIK. Preoperative corneal biomechanics were evaluated using the Corvis ST (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) and postoperative wavefront aberrations of the total cornea were measured using corneal tomography with Pentacam AXL (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany). Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression was applied to analyze the correlations between biomechanical properties and corneal aberrations.
Results :
Patient mean age was 30.53 ± 6.69 years (range 22 - 45) and 35 (70%) of the eyes belonged to female patients. The difference between preoperative and postoperative high order aberrations (HOA) was statistically significant (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant correlation (p > 0.05) between postoperative aberrations and preoperative first applanation velocity (A1V), second applanation velocity (A2V), integrated area under the radius of the inversed curvature during the concave phase (IR), deformation amplitude (DA) ratio, Ambrósio’s Relational Thickness to the horizontal profile (ARTh), stiffness parameter at the first applanation (SP-A1) or Corvis Biomechanical Index (CBI) measured by Pearson correlation analysis. Results of the multiple linear regression analysis showed that there was a weak collective non significant effect between the CBI, SP-A1, ARTH, IR, DA ratio, A2, A1, and HOA Post, (F(1, 54) = 3.29, p > 0.05, R2 = 0.06, R2adj = 0.04).
Conclusions :
We found no correlation between postoperative total corneal aberrations and preoperative biomechanical properties. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the relationship between Corvis ST-measured biomechanics and corneal aberrations in the context of refractive surgery.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.