At 9:39 +0100 7/9/04, James Royall wrote:
>The mention of approval brings to the fore my worry about laser eye
>surgery and similar techniques; are we, the paying public, not still
>the guinea-pigs for their development? Have the processes been around
>long enough to be sure of the LT stability, etc? I can see that for
>someone needing high levels of correction or who hates poking their
>fingers in their eyes twice a day the, what must admittedly be small,
>risks are outweighed by the benefits, but is it really worth it for the
>mildly irritated by glasses masses? What highlighted the pitfalls for
>me was a friend who had the procedure done about ten years ago and who
>ended up with a star-burst effect around bright lights at night. Like
>using the filter, it was pretty the first couple of times but quickly
>became irritating, and did nothing for her enjoyment of night driving.
>
>James
The laser process did not exist 10 years ago, and the effect you are
describing is more indicative of the Russian-developed "radial
keratotomy" operation.
This consisted of making slits in the cornea from about halfway out
from the center to the edge, radially, like wheel spokes, all around
the cornea.
The idea was that it would flatten the cornea, thus changing its
refractive power, and the corneal tissue would regrow to fill the
gaps. What tended to happen was that the junctures of the regrown
tissue were a little bit like scar tissue, and, though still
transparent, and not affecting visual acuity, they did produce extra
refraction and make bright point-source lights and objects have the
"starburst" effect.
We've come a long way.
Which is not to say that your caution isn't warranted.
Cheers from the Antipodes,
--
Michael Kopp
Wellington, New Zealand
>
>
>On 7 Sep 2004, at 04:31, Mike wrote:
>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am due for new glasses, can't afford Lasik (can't afford new
>>> glasses either, but what the hell),.....
>>>
>> I have just read of a new less invasive proceedure that is now in the
>> first phase of approval in the US.
>
>
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