Small Incision Lenticule Extraction For Correction Of Pediatric Unilateral Anisometropic Myopia

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of femtosecond laser small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) on treating unilateral myopic anisometropia in children with spectacles or contact lens intolerance.METHODS: This was a retrospective study that included children with unilateral myopic anisometropic amblyopia who underwent a SMILE procedure at Alpha Vision Center, Zaga-zig, Egypt, from January 2014 to December 2016.RESULTS: One hundred twenty-four eyes of 124 patients were included in this study. The postoperative corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) at the 3-month and 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year follow-up visits improved significantly (P < .05) compared to the preoperative CDVA, indicating the safety of the procedure. At the 3-month postoperative visit, 23% of cases showed improvement of one or more lines of CDVA, whereas only 2% of cases showed a decline of only one line. Moreover, the postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity compared favorably to the preoperative CDVA, denoting the efficacy of the refractive correction. The spherical equivalent was within +/- 0.50 diopters of the intended correction in 75% of the cases and within +/- 1.00 diopters in 89% of the cases. The intraoperative complications were scarce and relatively innocuous.CONCLUSIONS: SMILE is a safe and effective alternative method for correcting myopic anisometropic amblyopia in children with spectacles or contact lens intolerance with good refractive results. A larger study with longer follow-up periods is necessary to determine the long-term effects of SMILE.