Photorefractive Keratectomy in Young Asian Aviators with Low-Moderate Myopia

Introduction: The high prevalence of myopia among Asians led the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) to introduce photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) as a means of enlarging its pilot recruitment pool at the end of 2005. This study aims to address the efficacy and safety of PRK performed on young Asian patients with low-moderate myopia, as well as audit the RSAF's corneal refractive surgery (CRS) program. Methods: This is a retrospective case series of 149 eyes of 76 consecutive patients that underwent PRK as part of the RSAF CRS program over the 5-yr period from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2010. Results: The median patient age was 21 yr (range, 18-26 yr) and the mean preoperative spherical equivalent (SE) refraction was -3.39 +/- 1.19 D. Of the patients, 96.1% were men and all were of Asian origin. At the 12-mo follow-up, 98.5% of eyes had an uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) of <= 0.00 LogMAR, 100.0% of eyes had an SE refraction of within +/- 0.50 D of intended correction, and 2.3% of eyes had a loss of corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) of >= 0.20 LogMAR. The cumulative incidence of retreatments was 6.7% and cumulative incidence of grade II or worse corneal haze requiring retreatment was 6.0%. Refractive stability was achieved at 3 mo postsurgery. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that PRK performed within the context of a stringent and structured CRS program on young Asian eyes with low-moderate myopia is both efficacious and safe, with refractive stability achieved by 3 mo.