Corneal Refractive Surgery in Patients with History of Optic Neuritis

Majid Moshirfar; William D Wagner; Steven H Linn; Tanner W Brown; Jackson L Goldberg; Aaron T Gomez; Yasmyne C Ronquillo; Phillip C Hoopes

doi:10.18502/jovr.v14i4.5445

Corneal Refractive Surgery in Patients with History of Optic Neuritis

J Ophthalmic Vis Res. 2019 Oct 24;14(4):436-441. doi: 10.18502/jovr.v14i4.5445. eCollection 2019 Oct-Dec.

Authors

Majid Moshirfar^{1

2}, William D Wagner³, Steven H Linn¹, Tanner W Brown⁴, Jackson L Goldberg⁴, Aaron T Gomez⁵, Yasmyne C Ronquillo¹, Phillip C Hoopes¹

Affiliations

¹ John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
² HDR Research Center, Hoopes Vision, Draper, UT, USA.
³ Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, VA, USA.
⁴ The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
⁵ The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, Edinburg, TX, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of recurrence of optic neuritis after corneal refractive surgery in patients with a history of optic neuritis and to examine the safety and efficacy of the procedure in this population.

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of patients with a history of optic neuritis who underwent laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) or photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) at a single tertiary center from June 1996 to December 2014. Fifteen eyes of 14 patients were included in this study. Visual acuity before and after the surgery was recorded. Patients were followed-up for over five years postoperatively for the recurrence of optic neuritis.

Results: The average LogMAR best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) preoperatively was 0.12 $\pm$ 0.19 (-0.10 to 0.60) and postoperatively was 0.06 $\pm$ 0.10 (-0.10 to 0.30). No eyes lost lines of BCVA. The average LogMAR uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) after surgery was 0.12 $\pm$ 0.13 (0.00 to 0.48). Twenty-eight percent of patients reached a UDVA of 20/20 or better after refractive surgery. Optic neuritis recurred in 3/15 (20%) eyes and 3/14 patients (21%).

Conclusion: While corneal refractive procedures appear safe in patients with a history of optic neuritis, our data suggest that their efficacy may be reduced.

Keywords: LASIK; Multiple sclerosis; Optic Neuritis; PRK; Laser vision surgery.

Publication types

Review