Excimer laser photoablation: miracle or menace?

1. Excimer laser photoablation originally was expected to eliminate surgeon variability and create a minimal wound healing response on the part of the cornea. 2. Although surgical variables apparently have been eliminated, the promise of lack of wound healing has not been realized because corneas unpredictably respond to excimer laser photoablation. 3. It is clear that refractive surgery has reached the stature of the latest frontier and subspecialty within ophthalmology; every indication suggests that by the year 2000 we will have a safe and predictable means of permanently correcting all types of refractive errors.