Improvement of best spectacle-corrected visual acuity after LASIK in highly myopic eyes with reduced preoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity

PURPOSE: To evaluate the visual acuity after LASIK in patients with high myopia and in patients with preoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) <0.6. METHODS: This retrospective study comprised 97 consecutive eyes in 57 patients who underwent LASIK Preoperative spherical refractive error ranged from -1.75 to -22.00 diopters (D) (mean: -11.77 +/- 3.61 D) with mean astigmatism of -1.54 +/- 10.6 (range: 0 to -4.00 D). Pre- and postoperative BSCVA and uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) were measured and analyzed. RESULTS: The mean preoperative BSCVA was 0.54 +/- 0.07 (range: 0.3 to 0.6). The mean postoperative BSCVA was 0.75 +/- 0.16 (range: 0.5 to 1.2). The mean postoperative UCVA was 0.60 +/- 0.25 (range: 0.5 to 1.2). A statistically significant improvement was noted in the mean postoperative BSCVA compared with the mean preoperative BSCVA (t = 12.78; P < .001) and mean postoperative UCVA compared with preoperative mean BSCVA (t = 2.866; P < .01). The safety index was 1.38, which was statistically significant (P < .001). The efficacy index was 1.11, which was statistically significant (P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: LASIK improved the mean postoperative BSCVA and UCVA compared with preoperative BSCVA in highly myopic eyes with reduced BSCVA.