The FDA has approved the VISX laser for the treatment of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism for eligible patients. Millions of patients worldwide have undergone successful laser vision correction procedures, and over two million VISX® laser procedures have been performed in the U.S. since our first FDA approval in 1996. Virtually all people treated experience an improvement in vision that would allow them to pass a driver’s license exam without the aid of glasses or contacts.
Excimer laser correction is a treatment that uses the excimer laser beam to correct your eyesight. During the treatment, the laser's cool ultraviolet light removes a small amount of tissue - typically less than the thickness of a human hair. Short pulses of laser light flatten the curvature of the cornea, allowing images to be more sharply focused on the retina.
PRK and LASIK are contraindicated in patients with collagen vascular, autoimmune or immunodeficiency disease, signs of keratoconus, patients taking isotretinoin or amiodarone hydrochloride or are pregnant or nursing. Similarly, neither PRK nor LASIK surgery is recommended in patients with a history of ophthalmic Herpes simplex or Herpes zoster. Caution should be employed in deciding to perform either surgery on patients with systemic disease likely to effect wound healing, such as connective tissue disease, diabetes, severe atopic disease or patients immunocompromised; safety and effectiveness has not been established for these patient populations.
For more information about the Eye Institute, please call 603.663.2020 or e-mail
eyeinstitute@cmc-nh.org.