This study was a non-comparative case series and was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, People’s Republic of China. The study followed the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. A total of 57 patients undergoing LBV treatment were enrolled. All patients provided informed consent before surgery. The mean age of the 57 patients (22 male and 35 female) was 48 ± 4.05 years (range: 43 to 62 years). Patients in this study had a mean preoperative spherical equivalent of -5.59 ± 1.85 D (range: -1.25 to -11.10 D), cylinder of -0.62 ± 0.43 D (range: -2.25 to 0.00 D), and spectacle near addition of 1.75 ± 0.26 D (range: 0.75 to 2.50 D). Patients were enrolled in this study if they were presbyopic, had a corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) of 20/25 or better in both eyes, were medically suitable for LASIK, and could tolerate at least -0.75 D anisometropia during the tolerance test. Patients with systemic illness and those with clinically relevant lens opacity, previous ocular surgery, or abnormal binocular vision were excluded from the study.
Baseline data included measurements of monocular and binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), corrected near visual acuity (CNVA), distance corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA), manifest refraction, cycloplegic refraction, presbyopic addition, and assessments using slit-lamp examination, dilated fundus examination, amplitude of accommodation, corneal topography (Pentacam, Oculus Optikgerate, Wetzlar, Germany), contrast sensitivity (CSV-1000, Vector Vision, USA), entire eye aberrations (iTrace, Tracey Technologies Corp. Houston, USA), ocular wavefront analyzer (WASCA wavefront analyzer, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany), and subjective rating questionnaires. Ocular dominance was determined using the “hole test”[12].The patient’s tolerance was measured by simulating the intended postoperative refraction using a phoropter, and the patient’s acceptance was confirmed after wearing the trial frame, which simulated the intended postoperative refraction, for at least 5 minutes. The subjective questionnaire included 6 items covering satisfaction with (1) near vision, (2) distance vision, (3) intermediate vision, (4) night vision, (5) dependence on glasses, and (6) overall satisfaction with the correction. Each scale ranged from 0 to 100, where 0 indicated not at all satisfied and 100 indicated completely satisfied. Near acuity was measured under the same lighting conditions in one optometry room using the Sloan Letter Near Vision Card-729000 (GOOD-LITE®, IL, USA), which was designed such that the card was 40 cm away from the patient’s eye when a bead on a 40-cm cord was placed at the patient’s lateral canthus. The minus-lens–stimulated measurement was used to measure the amplitude of accommodation in patients, as described in a previous study [16].
All aspherical ablation treatments were prepared using the CRS-Master software platform (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany). The sphere and cylinder values entered into the laser were based on the manifest refraction without any nomogram adjustment. A target of -1.50 D was used for most nondominant eyes but was manually adjusted according to the patient’s tolerance of anisometropia. Figure 1 shows a scatterplot indicating the distribution of the intended spherical equivalent refraction in the near eye plotted against the patient’s age.
The same surgeon (Q.L.) performed all operations using the VisuMax femtosecond laser and MEL 80 excimer laser (both Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany). Surgical parameters were as follows: 1) 100-µm-thick flap; 2) mean optical zone, 6.32 ± 0.24 mm (range: 6.00 to 7.00 mm); 3) mean transition zone, 2.2 ± 0.12 mm (range: 1.30 to 2.30 mm); and 4) total ablation zone, 6.89 ± 0.17 mm (range, 6.50 to 8.30 mm).
At 3 years after surgery, 54 patients (108 eyes, 95%) were still available for follow-up, and all of them completed 3 years of follow-up. Three patients were classified as lost to follow-up and excluded from the analysis. Postoperative follow-up examinations included an assessment of manifest refraction, monocular and binocular UDVA, UNVA, CDVA, DCNVA, and CNVA. Manifest refraction and visual acuity measurements were performed at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years postoperatively. Contrast sensitivity was assessed at 6 months, 1 year and 3 years postoperatively. Subjective questionnaires, aberration measurements and minus-lens–stimulated accommodative amplitudes were assessed at the last visit.
Data were recorded in an Excel software database (2013, Microsoft Corp.). SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL) was used for statistical analysis. For normally distributed data, Student’s paired t tests were used. For non-normally distributed data, Friedman tests were performed. Correlations between changes in UNVA, changes in clinical measures in accommodation and changes in each of the higher order aberrations were assessed by linear regression analysis. A P value less than .05 was considered statistically significant.