Long-Term Efficacy of Photorefractive Keratectomy In Hyperopia Patients

Hyperopia is a common refractive error that is usually corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses. Following the fast advancement in refractive surgery and technology, eyeglasses or contact lenses were no longer the single treatment option in refractive errors. Today, extraction of transparent lens and intraocular lens implantation, phacic intraocular lens applications and corneal surgeries are performed for correction and treatment of refractive errors. Excimer Laser is the most widely used method in refractive surgery methods. In this method, cornea is reshaped using 193 nm argon-flourine laser and cornea is corrected according to patient’s refractive error. Different techniques can be chosen for patients with differences in cornea structure, refraction errors and patient expectations. The most frequently used methods are PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy), LASIK (Laser in situ keratomileusis) and LASEK (Laser subepithelial keratomileusis) [1, 2]. PRK is the first widely used excimer laser method. In this method, cornea epithelium is mechanically peeled and then excimer laser is applied. PRK is used as a safe, efficient and predictable method in correction of myopia and astigmatism as well as treatment of hyperopia. However, post-operative pain, corneal haze formation, high regression rate and late stabilization of visual acuity in patients with high grade hyperopia (>+6.00) are the disadvantages of this method [3, 4].