Risk Factors for Post-LASIK Ectasia: A Retrospective Analysis

Purpose The aim of the present study is to determine the preoperative risk factors for the development of post-LASIK ectasia. Patients and methods: In this retrospective, single-arm study, we examined 26 myopic eyes that developed post-LASIK ectasia. We carefully extracted detailed eye examinations, patient demographics (age and gender), and refractive metrics such sphere, cylinder, and spherical equivalent from electronic medical data. We also collected Pentacam parameters. In addition, we studied the preoperative ectasia risk factors. Results A total number of 13 patients were included in our study. The mean age of them was 25 ± 4.2 years. According to the preoperative refractive data; the mean sphere was − 2.7 ± 2.1 (D), the mean cylinder was − 1.4 ± 1 (D), and the mean spherical equivalence was − 3 ± 2.8 (D). As regards the keratometric readings, the mean K2, and Kmax were, 45.3 ± 1.6, and 46.1 ± 1.7 (D) respectively. The mean BAD-D was 1.4 ± 0.5 and it was higher than 1.75 in 10 eyes (38.4%). The mean Ambrosio’s Relational Thickness (ART) max was 403 ± 63.7 and it was lower than 340 in 3 eyes (11.5%). The mean Randelman Ectasia Scoring System (RESS) was 3.3 ± 1.3 5, which is considered a moderate risk for ectasia, and the mean Navarro index for corneal ectasia (NICE) was 5.6 ± 1 which is considered a high risk for ectasia. Conclusion Preoperative ectasia detection indices not enough detecting suspicious cases for ectasis with normal Pentacam and PTA. NICE appears to be more accurate than RESS. It is crucial to consider other risk factors for detecting more cases.