Many patients wonder if LASIK or PRK laser vision correction surgery can correct their astigmatism. In fact, astigmatism correction has been approved by the FDA since 1998! Since then, laser correction of astigmatism has continued to become even better.
Recently, a patient in my Santa Barbara office asked me if LASIK can treat astigmatism yet. I continually am surprised by how often I am asked this question as apparently many people are still under the impression that LASIK or PRK can not yet treat astigmatism.
It is true that when laser vision correction was first approved by the FDA in 1995, the FDA approval was for PRK treatment of nearsightedness only — and not astigmatism. Patients who had astigmatism were told to wait until technology advanced. And technology certainly advanced!
In 1998, VISX recieved approval by the FDA for treatment of up to 4 diopters of astigmatism with laser vision correction, still in the form of PRK. In 2000, the FDA expanded approval of astigmatism to include LASIK as well. In this era, astigmatism could only be corrected if there were also nearsightedness which needed to be treated at the same time. The FDA approval was for “myopic astigmatism,” which means astigmatism and nearsightedness together in the same eye. The laser beam treated both conditions simultaneously.
In 2001, the FDA expanded the range of its astigmatism approval for PRK and LASIK and approved PRK and LASIK for patients who essentially had pure astigmatism without nearsightedness or farsightedness. This condition is called “mixed astigmatism” and required more sophisticated laser spot placement on the corena.
In 2004, the FDA approved PRK and LASIK for patients who had farsightedness coupled with astigmatism. This condition is called “hyperopic astigmatism.” With the FDA approval of hyperopic astigmatism, patients with nearsightedness and astigmatism, astigmatism alone, or farsightedness and astigmatism were now all eligible for laser vision correction to remove their particular form of astigmatism.
Eventually, Customized Wavefront laser vision surgical correction of all these forms of astigmatism was also approved by the FDA, allowing the incredible precision of wavefront technology to be used. Interestingly, once wave front analysis was avaliable, opthalmologists were able to learn that essentiallly everyone has some astigmasitm, although often the amount can be very small.
Customized Wavefront technology, including Cusomized Wavefront LASIK and Customized Wavefront PRK, now allows us to detect incredibly small amounts of astigmatism which previously could not have been detected by glasses or contact lens measurements — and to accurately treat it. In fact, many patients in my practice who undergo wavefront testing are quite surprised to find they have some degree of astigmatism which has never been previously detected or treated with glasses or contacts. Today, nearly every patient has some degree of astigmatism treatment during their Customized Wavefront LASIK or PRK, even if it is very small.
I recently presented a paper at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Conference in Florida (ARVO), which showed that 96% of patients undergoing the latest form of Customized Wavefront LASIK actually saw better than they did with their glasses or contacts. In part, this is likely due to the vastly more sophtisticated analysis of astigmatism that Customized Wavefront LASIK is caapable of compared to glasses or contacts.
Accurate astigmatism correction is now an everyday occurance in nearly every case of contemporary LASIK and PRK!
See Also
VISX
VISX is a leader in excimer laser vision correction technology and products
American Academy of Ophthalmology Position Paper on LASIK Mixed and Hyperopic Astigmatism
A report by the American Academy of Ophthalmology on LASIK for hyperopia, hyperopic astigmaitism, and mixed astigmatism
Ophthalmology
Journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology
American Academy of Ophthalmology
The major professional society for ophthalmologists, or Eye MDs