Cryolathe keratomileusis for correction of myopia of 4.00 to 8.00 diopters

During the last decade, new refractive surgery procedures have been introduced; older techniques have been modified or even abandoned. Cryolathe myopic keratomileusis has been in clinical use for approximately 30 years. In this retrospective study, we present our experience in applying this technique for the correction of 4.00 to 8.00 diopters of myopia.

Autoplastic cryolathe keratomileusis was performed on 61 eyes of 44 patients who were at least 18 years of age, with a preoperative myopia of 8.00 D or less, and 4.00 D or less of astigmatism. The surgical technique used the Barraquer microkeratome and cryolathe. The mean postoperative observation period was 28 months (range, 12 to 73 months).

The mean preoperative spherical equivalent refraction was -5.95 +/- 1.14 D (range, -4.25 to -8.00 D). After a mean follow up of 28 months, the mean postoperative spherical equivalent refraction was -0.91 +/- 1.49 D (range, +2.00 to -7.75 D). At the end of follow up, 37 eyes (60.7%) were within +/- 1.00 D of emmetropia and 44 eyes (72.1%) achieved 20/40 or better uncorrected visual acuity. Complications included corneal ectasia in one eye (1.6%) and epithelial inclusions of the interface in another eye (1.6%). Irregular astigmatism was not a major problem, occurring in only two eyes (3.3%).

Cryolathe keratomileusis is a proven and feasible technique for correcting moderate to high amounts of myopia in properly selected patients; there is a low incidence of vision-threatening complications.