Wavefront-guided myopic LASIK platforms compared in study

April 17 - Washington, DC - Wavefront-guided myopic LASIK performed with the CustomCornea (Alcon) and CustomVue (VISX) platforms both result in excellent outcomes when measured by traditional metrics at 3 months, although CustomCornea treatment was associated with a trend for lower higher-order aberrations, reported Stephen G. Slade, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.

He compared the two systems in a prospective, contralateral eye-controlled study where treatment assignment in each patient was randomized by dominant eye. An initial study phase enrolling 25 patients compared the two platforms "out of the box" with no nomogram adjustments. Based on the results achieved in that investigation, which showed undercorrections occurring with the CustomVue treatment, a minor nomogram adjustment was made for that system, and a second phase study was performed in 10 patients.

In the latter trial, 90% of eyes in both treatment groups achieved 20/20 or better UCVA at 3 months, and refractive predictability and BCVA outcomes were very similar between treatments. Over time, however, there were increased spherical aberrations in the CustomVue eyes. Consistent with that difference, significant between-treatment differences favoring CustomCornea were noted in analyses of contrast sensitivity at two spatial frequencies.

"The take-home message here is that we had to increase the treatment with the CustomVue platform. While that relatively minor adjustment allowed us to achieve improved results, we know more laser treatment drives more spherical aberration. However, this is a small trial, and further study is warranted," Dr. Slade said.