Jonathan Christenbury, MD (license relinquished)

If a person has had LASIK and is under or over corrected, or has astigmatism which affects vision or is less than 20/20, a touch up LASIK or "enhancement" can be performed. I prefer a Custom Wavefront enhancement which corrects both refractive errors and wavefront abnormalities, and is a unique treatment for each eye corrected. As long as the cornea is thick enough, the original flap is lifted for the treatment, so the procedure is less involved that the original LASIK.


Dr.Christenbury

I performed the first IntraLASIK procedure on the East Coast in early 2002. This is the laser that creates the LASIK flap rather than a mechanical device called a "keratome". I have exclusively used the Intralase technique - All Laser LASIK for 10 years because it is safer, more accurate, and provides better visual outcomes.


Dr. Christenbury

This is a very important distinction for patients to understand. A Wavefront Custom procedure measure the refractive error (nearsightedness, astigmatism) as well as optical abberations or "wavefront errors". Every eye focuses light different across the pupil, and the Wavescan creates a unique treatment for each eye. This treatment is then downloaded into the laser (I prefer the Visx Customvue), the laser identifies the patient's eye by an iris fingerprint, and orients/aligns the treatment with the IR - iris registration. A custom treatment provides better night vision, better quality of vision, and a higher % of 20/20.


I reported 14,000 Custom iLasik procedures performed over a 7 year period and at 1 month 94% were 20/20 or better, and at 6 months 97% were 20/20 or better. I reported 1,000 consecutive eyes from 2010 and 98% were 20/20 or better and more than half were 20/15, better than 20/20. These results cannot be duplicated by non-custom or "custom-adjusted" LASIK.


Dr.Christenbury

 

Astigmatism is not a disease, but more nearsightedness or farsightedness in one meridian or "axis" than the opposite 90 degrees. A good example given is the cornea is shaped like a "football" and the laser reshapes the cornea to round. As long as the cornea is normal by topographic mapping, up to 6 D or units of astigmatism can be corrected. A CustomWavefront LASIK can be performed as well for astigmatism. It is important that IR, or Iris Registration is used to properly align the treatment. When a person is supine the head or eye can rotate, called cyclorotation. The VISX CustomVue is my choice of laser since it uses the Iris Registration to rotate the treatment to correct for any cyclorotation - this makes correcting Astigmatism more accurate.