Photoastigmatic refractive keratectomy in 168 eyes: six-month results

Using a 193 nm excimer laser, we performed elliptical astigmatic and spherical corneal ablation on 168 eyes with compound myopic astigmatism and analyzed the three- and six-month postoperative results. Mean preoperative astigmatism was 1.51 +/- 0.81 diopters (D). Mean three- and six-month postoperative astigmatism was 0.70 +/- 0.58 D and 0.67 +/- 0.60 D, respectively. Six months after surgery, eyes with less than 1.00 D preoperative astigmatism improved 4.8%. The improvement was 53.5% and 59.1% for eyes with a preoperative astigmatism of 1.00 D to 2.00 D and above 3.00 D, respectively. Overall, astigmatism improved 55.6%. There was a wide distribution from overcorrection to undercorrection. Astigmatism six months after surgery was within 10 degrees of the preoperative axis in 46.1% of eyes.