- 1.Goldstone RN, Yildiz EH, Fan VC, Asbell PA. Changes in higher order wavefront aberrations after contact lens corneal refractive therapy and LASIK surgery. J Refract Surg. 2010; 26(5):348–355.
10.3928/1081597X-20100218-03 Link, Google Scholar - 2.Anera RG, Villa C, Jiménez JR, Gutiérrez R. Effect of LASIK and contact lens corneal refractive therapy on higher order aberrations and contrast sensitivity function. J Refract Surg. 2009; 25(3):277–284. Link, Google Scholar
- 3.Jiménez JR, Villa C, Anera RG, Gutiérrez R, del Barco LJ. Binocular visual performance after LASIK. J Refract Surg. 2006; 22(7):679–688. Link, Google Scholar
- 4.Soni PS, Nguyen TT, Bonnano JA. Overnight orthokeratology: refractive and corneal recovery after discontinuation of reverse-geometry lenses. Eye Contact Lens. 2004; 30(4):254–262.
10.1097/01.ICL.0000140637.58027.9B Crossref Medline, Google Scholar - 5.Aizawa D, Shimizu K, Komatsu M, Ito M, Suzuki M, Ohno K, Uozato H. Clinical outcomes of wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis: 6 month follow-up. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2003; 29(8):1507–1513.
10.1016/S0886-3350(03)00472-3 Crossref Medline, Google Scholar
New York, New York
We thank Anera and Villa for their comments on our article,1 which was initially published online at about the same time as their paper appeared in print.2 Both of these studies demonstrate changes in higher order aberrations after contact lens corneal refractive therapy (CRT) and LASIK surgery. We were unaware of the manuscript by Anera et al2 at the time we had submitted our paper for publication, as their manuscript was not yet available on PubMed.
We agree that these changes in higher order aberrations may cause deteriorations in visual function, including contrast sensitivity as well as other unmeasured visual parameters. All of us interested in providing good uncorrected visual acuity by surgical and nonsurgical therapies must recognize that these procedures can be associated with changes in visual parameters, some of which may be difficult to measure, can change over time, and may or may not interfere with visual function. Although changes in visual parameters can occur and vary with procedure, as well as duration of follow-up, the majority of patients are satisfied with the results and seem to have normal visual function that does not negatively impact their daily lives.
