Longitudinal evaluation of posterior corneal elevation after laser refractive surgery using swept-source optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the change in posterior corneal elevation up to 1 year after myopic femtosecond-assisted LASIK and photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).

Design: Prospective, longitudinal, comparative study.

Participants: Patients undergoing femtosecond-assisted LASIK or PRK.

Methods: Corneal imaging was performed using swept-source optical coherence tomography at baseline and at each postoperative follow-up. A 2-way analysis of variance model with repeated measures and a linear mixed effect model were used to compare the differences in posterior corneal elevation between LASIK and PRK at different points after adjusting for the preoperative spherical equivalent (SEQ), central corneal thickness (CCT), thinnest corneal thickness (TCT), residual bed thickness (RST), and ablation depth (AD).

Main outcome measures: The changes in posterior corneal elevation 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after surgery.

Results: Ninety-eight eyes of 49 patients (mean age 35.2 ± 8.5 years) (62 LASIK, 36 PRK) were included. The mean change in posterior corneal elevation values after LASIK and PRK were 4.88±0.47 μm versus 3.67±0.48 μm (B-1), 2.42±0.56 μm versus 3.00±0.47 μm (B-3), 3.76±0.46 μm versus 2.76±0.46 μm (B-6), and 2.92±0.46 μm versus 2.72±0.46 μm (B-12), respectively. Significant differences in posterior corneal elevation after LASIK were found from month 1, to month 3, to month 6, to month 12 (P ≤ 0.001), whereas posterior corneal elevation did not change significantly from month 3, to month 6, to month 12 (P ≥ 0.373) after PRK. LASIK and PRK eyes showed significant differences at months 3 and 12 (P ≤ 0.023). A similar pattern was observed for the changes in posterior corneal elevation after LASIK and PRK after adjusting for the effect of SEQ, CCT, TCT, RST, and AD. The adjusted forward displacements of the posterior corneal surface were statistically significant throughout the study period after both refractive surgeries (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The findings of our study suggested that there was a mild but significant forward protrusion of the posterior cornea after femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK and PRK. The posterior cornea fluctuated during the first postoperative year after LASIK, whereas it stabilized as early as 3 months after PRK.