Efficacy of Wavefront-guided Photorefractive Keratectomy with Iris Registration for Management of Moderate to High Astigmatism by Advanced Personalized Treatment Nomogram

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) using the advanced personalized treatment (APT) nomogram for correction of moderate to high astigmatism. METHODS: This prospective interventional case series included 60 consecutive eyes of 30 patients undergoing wavefront-guided PRK (Zyoptix 217 Z100 excimer laser, Bausch & Lomb, Munich, Germany) using the APT nomogram and iris registration for myopic astigmatism. Mitomycin-C was applied intraoperatively in all eyes. Ophthalmic examination was performed preoperatively and 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Preoperatively, mean sphere was -1.68 ± 2.08 diopters (D), mean refractive astigmatism was -3.04 ± 1.05 D and mean spherical equivalent (SE) was -3.12 ± 1.77 D. Six months postoperatively, mean sphere was + 0.60 ± 0.64 D (P < 0.005), mean cylinder was -0.43 ± 0.46 D (P < 0.005) and mean SE was + 0.28 ± 0.48 D (P < 0.005). Hyperopic overcorrection (≥ +1.0 D) occurred in 3 (5%) eyes. Postoperatively, root mean square (RMS) of higher order aberrations (HOAs) was significantly increased (P = 0.041). RMS of spherical aberration (Z [4, 0]) showed no significant change after surgery (P = 0.972). CONCLUSION: Considering the acceptable residual refractive error, low rate of hyperopic overcorrection, acceptable uncorrected visual acuity, and low risk of postoperative corneal haze, PRK using the APT nomogram with iris registration and mitomycin-C use is a safe and effective modality for treatment of moderate to high astigmatism.