Don’t underestimate “eye pressure” measurement before excimer laser myopia surgery

  Xiao Cheng, who is in his second year of college this year, is 700 degrees nearsighted in both eyes and is ready for excimer laser surgery to correct his vision, but he was surprised by the examination results. After further examination of the central visual field, atrial angle and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, Xiao Cheng was diagnosed with “high myopia combined with primary open angle glaucoma”. “The diagnosis was made after further examination of the central visual field, atrial angle and retinal nerve fiber thickness. The company’s main goal is to provide the best possible service to its customers. Can excimer laser surgery still be done? What other changes will there be in the eyes in the future? In fact, in the thousands of cases I have seen undergoing excimer laser surgery patients about 3 per thousand myopia combined with high intraocular pressure, some have not yet developed glaucomatous optic neuropathy and visual field damage belong to high intraocular pressure disease, the emergence of lesions are glaucoma.  When it comes to glaucoma, many people tend to “talk about glaucoma”. Glaucoma is an eye disease that poses a serious threat to vision and visual function and is mainly associated with an increase in intraocular pressure following a blockage of the “atrial” circulation. The most typical manifestation is “sunken optic nerve papillary atrophy, visual field loss and narrowing”. If effective treatment is not taken, high intraocular pressure will compress the optic nerve, leading to gradual atrophy of the optic nerve and consequent loss of visual field and blindness. Especially in primary open-angle glaucoma, patients often do not have any discomfort symptoms, and when detected by ophthalmologic examination, they often have reached the middle and late stages of glaucoma.  Researchers have found that the prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma is significantly higher in highly myopic eyes than in orthokeratology and mild myopia, and the higher the myopia, the more likely it is to be complicated by primary open-angle glaucoma. 600 degrees or more of high myopia is a highly significant risk factor for glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The pathology of high glaucoma sensitivity in high myopia may be the result of myopic ocular enlargement and stretching of the optic papilla leading to thinning of the sieve plate and parapapapillary sclera. At the same time, the combination of high myopia with primary open-angle glaucoma causes elevated intraocular pressure, which tends to lead to further extension of the anterior and posterior diameters of the eye axis, resulting in a gradual progression of myopia.  And Xiao Cheng, can he still do excimer laser myopia correction surgery? Myopic friends with glaucoma, suspected glaucoma or high intraocular pressure are not suitable for excimer laser myopia correction surgery. Excimer laser LASIK and LASEK surgeries use excimer laser of specific wavelength to precisely cut corneal tissue, reshape the cornea and achieve clear focus, thus correcting myopia and astigmatism and completely getting rid of myopic glasses. Due to the relative thinning of the central corneal thickness after excimer laser surgery, the IOP measurement after surgery is lower than the measured value, which can interfere with the judgment of IOP value for people with glaucoma, suspected glaucoma or high IOP. Therefore, it is appropriate for Xiao Cheng to wear frame glasses. Since glaucoma has been detected, he should actively cooperate with the doctor for anti-glaucoma medication, especially emphasizing the control of 24-hour IOP fluctuation by medication, and insisting on the follow-up of changes in the central visual field and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness every six months to avoid glaucomatous optic neuropathy and further damage to the visual field.  Here, I would like to remind myopic friends who are ready to choose excimer laser vision correction surgery that strict preoperative examination and comprehensive assessment, reasonable surgical design, standardized operational procedures, and a perfect postoperative follow-up system and quality medical services are important guarantees for us to achieve high-quality surgical outcomes.