Quality of vision after myopic and hyperopic laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy

PURPOSE: To assess quality of vision after laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy (LASEK). SETTING: Private practice, United Kingdom. DESIGN: Case series. METHODS: Consecutive patients having bilateral LASEK with a Schwind Amaris laser for myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism completed the Quality of Vision (QoV) questionnaire preoperatively and 5 days, 2 weeks, and 1 and 3 months postoperatively. The outcome measures were QoV scores for symptom frequency, severity, and bothersome. The QoV scores range from 0 to 100; higher scores indicate poorer quality of vision. RESULTS: The study enrolled 100 consecutive patients (68 myopic, 32 hyperopic). For frequency of symptoms, the mean preoperative QoV score was 6.78 +/- 11.45 (SD). Postoperatively, the mean scores at 5 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months were 70.71 +/- 11.26, 50.55 +/- 14.63, 7.15 +/- 12.49, and 2.45 +/- 6.01, respectively. For severity of symptoms, the mean preoperative QoV score was 6.22 +/- 10.52 and the mean postoperative scores were 54.85 +/- 12.19, 38.95 +/- 11.42, 4.38 +/- 7.80, and 1.94 +/- 4.64, respectively. For bothersome nature of symptoms, the mean preoperative QoV score was 4.91 +/- 9.48 and the mean postoperative scores were 38.97 +/- 24.18, 21.90 +/- 16.50, 3.61 +/- 7.01, and 1.44 +/- 4.91, respectively. Post hoc tests found statistically significant differences for all comparisons except between preoperatively and 1 month postoperatively. There were no statistically significant differences between the 2 groups at any time interval. CONCLUSION: The quality of vision worsened in the early postoperative period but returned to preoperative levels by 1 month and was better than preoperative levels by 3 months post LASEK.