Purpose: To report the clinical features, management, and outcome of a patient who developed bilateral ectasia after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK).
Methods: Case report of a 35-year-old man who underwent bilateral PRK. Preoperative uncorrected visual acuity was 20/200 in the right eye and 20/100 in the left eye. The patient's history was unremarkable and he denied a family history of ocular disorders.
Results: Two weeks after surgery, the patient presented with loss of visual acuity in both eyes. Uncorrected visual acuity was 20/80 in the right eye and 20/200 in the left eye. Objective refraction could not be obtained. Slit-lamp microscopy showed corneal thinning in both eyes. After examining the patient's family, his sister was found to have clinical and topographic keratoconus.
Conclusions: Ectasia is a rare complication of PRK. We report the occurrence of bilateral ectasia after PRK in a patient with asymmetric bowtie topographies. We recommend that refractive surgery, even surface techniques such as PRK, be avoided in patients with a family history of keratoconus.