LASIK in children with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia

PURPOSE: To evaluate the results of LASIK for hyperopia in pediatric eyes with amblyopia resulting from anisometropia. METHODS: Thirty-two children with anisometropic amblyopia in whom conventional therapy was unsuccessful underwent unilateral LASIK between 1999 and 2005. Mean patient age was 10.3 +/- 3.1 years (range: 4 to 15 years), and mean follow-up was 20.1 +/- 15.1 months (range: 12 to 60 months). At the last follow-up examination, spherical equivalent refraction, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), and complications were recorded. RESULTS: Mean preoperative and postoperative manifest spherical equivalent refraction of the treated eyes was 5.17 +/- 1.65 and 1.39 +/- 1.21 diopters (D), respectively (P<.01). Mean UCVA was 0.06 +/- 0.09 (range: 0.01 to 0.5) preoperatively and 0.27 +/- 0.23 (range: 0.05 to 0.8) postoperatively (P<.01). Mean BSCVA was 0.20 +/- 0.17 (range: 0.01 to 0.8) preoperatively and 0.35 +/- 0.25 (range: 0.1 to 1.0) postoperatively (P<.01). Six eyes gained >= 4 lines of BSCVA, 4 eyes gained 2 to 3 lines, 12 eyes gained 1 line, and 9 eyes were unchanged; only 1 eye lost 1 line of BSCVA due to haze in the flap-stroma interface. None of the patients reported halos or glare. There were no intraoperative or postoperative flap complications. CONCLUSIONS: LASIK seems to be an effective and safe procedure for the management of hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia in select cases. Visual acuity improved in the amblyopic eyes and was associated with decreased anisometropia. The refractive response to hyperopic LASIK in children appears to be similar to that of adults with comparable refractive errors.