Assessment of the change of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness after laser <i>in situ</i> keratomileusis by three dimensional frequency domain optical coherent tomography

Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the change of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness(RNFLT)after laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)by three dimensional frequency domain optical coherent tomography(3D-OCT). METHODS:Eighty-three patients(83 right eyes)who underwent LASIK operation were recruited. RNFLT was performed by 3D-OCT preoperatively and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 3 months postoperatively. The data was analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA and paired t test. RESULTS: After the comparisons of the RNFL thickness among different time points, we found no statistical differences excluding the RNFLT of superior, nasal and 12, 1-4 o'clock sectors through the repeated measures with ANOVA.Then using paired t test for further analysis, the difference was not remained in the follow-up observation. There was also a significant correlation between RNFLT and diopter(superior r=-0.316, P=0.004; nasal r=-0.456, P0.001)and laser cutting time(superior r=0.341, P=0.002; nasal r=0.471, P0.001), but no significant correlation between RNFLT and age and suction time.CONCLUSION: There is no change of RNFLT after LASIK during the follow-up.

Keywords

• laser <i>in situ</i> keratomileusis
• retinal nerve fiber layer thickness
• optical coherent tomography