My corneal thickness is 445 but my bad eye is only -1.75. Is intraLase an option for me?

Question

Mazin Yaldo, MD · Answer

As you know, your corneas are extremely thin. Patients with thin corneas present an increased risk for the postoperative complication known as ectasia, or destabilization of the structure of the cornea. Your prescription is mild, and does not require much corneal tissue to be removed (which works in your favor). If you were to have laser vision correction, I would strongly advise against LASIK, even using IntraLase; rather, I would consider a surface ablation treatment such as LASEK (also known as PRK or epi-LASIK). By not making a flap, the surgeon is not working as deep within the cornea and the risk of ectasia is less. However, there is little to no data out there regarding LASEK on exceptionally thin corneas, and the risk of ectasia. I have done cases such as yours with surface ablation and have never had a case of ectasia in any of them; we are talking dozens of cases though, not thousands (a small sample size).

Farzad Yaghouti, MD · Answer

Hi gymnastboi17,  There are no uniform consensus among refractive surgeons as to the exact cut off of corneal pahymetry (measurement of corneal thickness) below which one should not create an intralase flap. The more conservative ophthalmologists may consider 500 Micron as the cut off point, while a more aggressive ophthalmologist would consider 480 micron as a cut off. But, in my opinion, a value of 445 is even below what would be considered by the most majority of ophthalmologists as too thin to do lasik on.  My recommendation, assuming the topography is completely normal, consider doing a custom PRK if you are determined to be a good candidate for that procedure.

My corneal thickness is 445 but my bad eye is only -1.75. Is intraLase an option for me?

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My corneal thickness is 445 but my bad eye is only -1.75. Is intraLase an option for me?

Answers (2)

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Everything you need to know about LASIK

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.