Laser in situ keratomileusis for treated anisometropic amblyopia in awake, autofixating pediatric and adolescent patients

To establish the safety and efficacy of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in pediatric and adolescent patients with anisometropic amblyopia who completed amblyopia therapy and had a visual acuity of 20/30 or better bilaterally. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, USA. From August 2000 to March 2002, LASIK was performed in 21 eyes of 19 consecutive patients meeting eligibility requirements. The procedure was performed with the Summit Autonomous LADARVision^® 4000 excimer laser (Alcon Laboratories, Inc.) in the amblyopic eye for the correction of anisometropia or in both eyes. All patients were awake and autofixating during the procedure. The mean patient age was 13.14 years (range 8 to 19 years). Seventeen patients were treated in the amblyopic eye only to correct anisometropia; treatment was performed in both eyes of 2 patients who were older than 18 years. Patients were followed for a mean of 18.0 months (range 8.6 to 26.5 months). Anisometropia was greater than 2.00 diopters (D) in all cases (mean 4.43 D, range 13.25 to 2.25 D). The percentage deviation from the attempted correction in the myopic group was 4.0% ± 4.0% (SD) (range 2.0% to 10.0%) and 38.0% ± 13.0% (range 5.0% to 58.0%) in the hyperopic group. Anisometropia decreased uniformly to less than 2.00 D in all patients (mean 1.52 D). The percentage of patients with stereo acuity increased from 63.0% preoperatively to 84.0% postoperatively. Laser in situ keratomileusis safely and effectively reduced anisometropia in these patients. If stereo acuity is not possible preoperatively, it may be obtained postoperatively.