Results of Lasik not always clear

By Robert Mitchum
Chicago Tribune

Millions of people are estimated to undergo the Lasik procedure each year in the United States at academic clinics, private practices and corporate centers. While the vast majority experience no long-term complications of the surgery, a small percentage find themselves with permanent visual defects that are difficult to treat and hard to live with. Some of these patients respond in anger; a browse of the Internet will turn up several venomous sites calling for litigation against Lasik surgeons, a horror story from comedian Kathy Griffin and even calls for a ban of the procedure itself.

Other patients suffering from post-surgical complications languish in silence, unaware of their options for treatment. Barbara Berney of Rockford was one of these patients, suffering from a long list of complications after her Lasik surgery in 2001: dry eye, night blindness, dimmed vision and a suite of aberrations, including ghosting, halos and starbursts. 'If you made a list of complications, I'd probably have 70 percent of them,' Berney said. 'How I can stay sane, I don't know.' After a second surgery did not significantly improve her vision, and after an unsuccessful legal action against her surgeon, Berney decided to start an organization for people in her situation: the Vision Surgery Rehabilitation Network.

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Lasik Device To Correct Bifocal Vision Approved

One of America’s biggest eye care companies has had its recent invention-the CustomVue Monovision Lasik device, approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Advanced Medical Optics Inc. claims the invention is the first Lasik device to correct one of a patient's eyes to see far (myopia) and the other eye to see objects close-up (presbyopia).

According to the FDA the instrument works by correcting all the nearsightedness to help distance vision in a patient's dominant eye, while fixing only part of the nearsightedness in the less dominant eye, which helps close-up vision. The FDA has asked the company to conduct a study tracking 500 patients for six months after surgery, to check for potential visual disturbances that could limit activities or worsen a patient's quality of life.

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FDA Approves Monovision LASIK

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first LASIK device to reduce the need for reading glasses after age 40.

Called CustomVue Monovision LASIK, the laser platform and associated software manufactured by AMO/VISX (Santa Clara, CA) treats one eye to see distant objects and the other eye to see things up close.

"The approval of the CustomVue Monovision LASIK expands permanent vision correction options for nearsighted adults who also have trouble focusing on objects close-up. Unlike traditional LASIK, Monovision LASIK may reduce the need for reading glasses in some people over 40." says Daniel Schultz, MD, director of FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health in a press release issued by the FDA on July 12, 2007.

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