TheSignificance ofPhototherapeuticKeratectomyin theTreatment ofSuperficialCorneal Diseases

Overview

In the retrospective study the authors evaluate clinical results of phototherapeutickeratectomy (PTK) that is one of the alternative methods used in treatmentof some of the supercifial corneal diseases. The authors present the group of 89eyes of 63 patients with diagnose: dry spot corneae in 69 eyes (77.5 %), recurrentcorneal erosion in 13 eyes (14.5 %), corneal dystrophy in 2 eyes (1.8 %), recurrentherpes simplex keratitis in 3 eyes (2.7 %), recurrent pterygium in 2 eyes (1.8 %),atopic keratoconjunctivitis with mucous plaque in 1 eye (0.9 %). The average agewas 45.2 years (14-84 years) and average follow-up period was 29 months (3-52months). The operation was done with the use of device Keracor 117 (ArF excimerlaser) in topical anaesthesia, with the average zone of ablation 4.1mmandaveragedepth of ablation 24
in one go. In ten cases was the operation carried outrepeatedly.We evaluated the postoperative complications, postoperative changes of refractionand final the best corrected visual acuity. For low percentage of postoperativecomplications, decrease or disappearance of subjective difficulties and improvementof visual acuity with minimal stress for the patient we can recommend PTKas save and efficient method in treatment of corneal diseases mentioned above.

Key words:
phototerapeutic keratectomy, excimer laser, dry spot corneae, recurrent corneal erosion, anterior corneal dystrophy