LASIK after Corneal Transplants

Submitted by Dr. Dean Dornic on Sun 07/26/2009 - 09:51

Can you get LASIK after a corneal transplant?

Many patients have high amounts of nearsightedness or astigmatism after a corneal transplant. The disparity between the transplanted eye and the patients other eye may be so great that it can be hard to wear glasses or contact lenses. In some cases, LASIK is the answer. A study sought to find out if wavefront-guided LASIK was effective after corneal transplants (penetrating keratoplasty) for an eye disease known as keratoconus.

At 3 years follow-up, standard LASIK and topographically guided two-step LASIK showed good results following penetrating keratoplasty for keratoconus, a study found.

“After a long follow-up period, both topographically guided two-step LASIK and standard LASIK could be considered effective and safe tools in the correction of refractive errors after successful [PK] for keratoconus,” the study authors said.

At the Laser Eye Center of Carolina, we perform corneal transplants and concur with the results of this study that show that LASIK can be useful after successful surgery. Many Raleigh, NC area patients have benefitted from our experience in corneal transplants and LASIK.