Dynamic Visual Acuity After Small Incision Lenticule Extraction for Myopia Patients

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology and Optometry
• Refractive Surgery Outcomes

Background:

• Myopia management often involves refractive surgery to improve uncorrected vision.
• Dynamic visual acuity (DVA) measures visual performance during head or eye movement, crucial for real-world activities.
• Small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) is a popular laser vision correction procedure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare dynamic visual acuity (DVA) in myopic adults before and after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery.
• To evaluate the correlation between preoperative DVA, postoperative DVA, and postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA).

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 42 myopic adults (84 eyes) underwent binocular SMILE surgery.
• Dynamic visual acuity (DVA) was measured at 40 and 80 degrees per second (dps) preoperatively with eyeglass correction.
• Postoperative uncorrected DVA was assessed at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements in DVA were observed at 3 months post-SMILE compared to preoperative eyeglass-corrected DVA at both 40 dps and 80 dps.
• Mean postoperative UDVA and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) were -0.09 and -0.11 logMAR, respectively, at 3 months.
• Postoperative DVAs at 3 months showed significant positive correlations with both preoperative DVA and postoperative UDVA at both tested speeds.

Conclusions:

• SMILE surgery leads to a significant enhancement of dynamic visual acuity in myopic individuals compared to their best corrected vision with glasses.
• The achieved dynamic visual acuity after SMILE is influenced by both the patient's baseline DVA and their final uncorrected visual acuity.