Consecutive myopia correction with transepithelial versus alcohol-assisted photorefractive keratectomy in contralateral eyes: One-year results

Abstract

Mr. Ewering and Mr. Arba-Mosquera are employees of Schwind eye-tech-solutions. Dr. Luger has no financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

Single-step transepithelial versus alcohol-assisted photorefractive keratectomy in the treatment of high myopia: a comparative evaluation over 12 months

“…Thus far, however, results from few studies in eyes with mild to moderate myopia undergoing TransPRK have been encouraging; HOAs, achievement of target SE refraction, safety and efficacy were all reported to be similar to EtOH-PRK 2 6 7. In only one study on high myopes, Aslanides et al 12 demonstrated comparable results to laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis and EtOH-PRK at 12 months; however, this study included a very small sample size of 29 eyes with EtOH-PRK and 41 eyes with TransPRK, and did not go in depth in analysing the effects on OZ.…”

“…Favourable clinical results of single-step TransPRK vis-à-vis EtOH-PRK have been reported,2 6 7 but the study population consisted mainly of low to moderately myopic eyes. In this study, we compare the visual and refractive results, and higher order aberrations (HOAs) of high myopic eyes that underwent either single-step TransPRK or EtOH-PRK over 12 months.…”

“…The latter is performed first, followed seamlessly with the radial PTK profile, ablating 55 microns centrally, with parabolically deeper ablations peripherally to mirror the epithelial profile derived from population-based studies 8 9. Compared with traditional alcohol-assisted PRK (EtOH-PRK), the ablation profile in TransPRK provides faster epithelial healing due to its smaller epithelial ablation zone, and healthy, sharp and non-ragged epithelial edge 2 6 7…”

Analysis of Ethanol Effects on Corneal Epithelium

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The use of ethanol in ophthalmology practice is largely based on its ability to damage corneal epithelium and to make epithelial debridement easier. For instance, application of diluted ethanol (mostly 20% ethanol for 30 seconds) delaminates the corneal epithelium at the level of the hemidesmosomal attachments and creates a smooth stromal surface for further surface ablation by excimer laser.…”

A Clinical and Confocal Microscopic Comparison of Transepithelial PRK and LASEK for Myopia

“…Buzzonetti et al [8] and Luger et al [9] reported that transepithelial PRK is safe and effective as traditional PRK for myopic correction with a minimal hyperopic shift. Lee et al [10] reported the clinical and visual results after PRK using three epithelial removal techniques (mechanical, alcohol-assisted, and excimer laser-assisted) and found no marked difference among the three groups, as in our study.…”