Does Lasik Cause Pupil Shift?

Question

I've read some articles that having lasik causes your pupils to shift off center. Just wondering how true is this. Is a persons pupils naturally centered in the iris or are they off a little from being centered? Then I've read some that say it causes your pupils to get bigger. Most of the stories are on the lasik disaster sites an things like that. Don't know how true any of it is.

Emil William Chynn, MD, FACS, MBA · Answer

as my colleague dr coad said, you are confused

	LASIK does not cause a pupil shift. you read an article saying that the pupil visual axis is not the same as the anatomical axis, so that's why we have the patients awake to fixate on the blinking light, as then their treatment is better centered than if we surgeons centered on what we thought was the (physical) center of the pupil

	Emil Chynn MD

Christopher Coad, MD · Answer

LASIK does not change pupil size but the laser treatment is centered on the visual axis (line of vision) and not the pupil center.  This may cause some confusion.

Anthony J. Kameen, MD (retired) · Answer

The short answer is no. Most human pupils have a slight natural shift in the nasal direction, though it is more evident in some than others. There is nothing in the laser vision correction(LASIK or PRK) process that would change this dynamic.

Does Lasik Cause Pupil Shift?

Answers (3)