comparison of the short-term clinical results of epi-lasik and photorefractive keratectomy with mitomycin-c for moderate to high myopia

purpose : to compare the postoperative results of epi-lasik and photorefractive keratectomy-mitomycin (prk-mitomycin) in patients with moderate to high myopia methods : for this double-blind clinical trial, samples were randomly selected among those subjects above 20 years of age who were visited for myopia correction and had a spherical equivalent between -4 to -8 d. we randomly performed prk-mitomycin in one eye and epi-lasik in the other eye of the patients. refraction examinations, visual acuity (va) measurements, contrast sensitivity testing, and corneal examination were performed at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery. in the current study, analysis was performed on 3- and 6-month data. results : thirty - six eyes were studied. six months after surgery, the mean spherical equivalent in prk-mitomycin and epi-lasik groups was 0 and -0.1 d, respectively (p=0.994). six months after surgery, 13 eyes had a spherical equivalent of 0±0.5 d in each group while one diopter of ametropia was seen in 16 and 15 eyes in the prk-mitomycin and epi-lasik groups, respectively. six months after surgery, one eye in the prk-mitomycin group and two eyes in the epi-lasik group lost 1 line of best corrected visual acuity (bcva). six months after surgery, 12 eyes in the prk-mitomycin group and nine eyes in the epi-lasik group had an uncorrected visual acuity (ucva) of 10/10. the safety index in the prk-mitomycin and epi-lasik group was calculated to be 1.25 and 1.19, respectively (p=0.480). no haze was seen in the prk-mitomycin group 6 months after surgery while 2 cases in the epi-lasik group had haze grade 0.5. there was no significant difference in contrast sensitivity between the two groups (p>0.05). conclusion : the two methods were similar in postoperative va and refractive results. since the chance of haze formation in epi-lasik surgery without the application of mitomycin-c (mmc) is similar to prk with mitomycin, epi-lasik can be considered as an alternative to prk with mmc for the treatment of moderate to high myopia.   iranian journal of ophthalmology 201325(1):19-26 © 2013 by the iranian society of ophthalmology