Are You A Candidate?

Criteria for laser vision correction

Inclusion criteria

• Age 21 or older
• Stable glass prescription
• Regularly shape cornea
• Adequate corneal thickness
• Good potential vision
• Clear natural lens
• Not pregnant and not nursing
• Realistic expectations

Exclusion criteria

• Age younger than 21
  • Laser vision correction should be performed only on mature eyes.
  • Laser vision correction is generally not performed in eyes that are still maturing.
• Unstable glass prescription
  • Without a stable glass prescription, it would be difficulty to assess the amount of correction that need to done.
  • Laser vision correction should be delayed until the glass prescription stabilizes.
• Irregularly shaped cornea
  • Patients with keratoconus (for further details, see section on keratoconus in Vision Disorder) should not undergo laser vision correction.
  • Patients with significant corneal scars should not undergo laser vision correction.
• Inadequate corneal thickness
  • Laser vision correction takes away corneal tissue and reduces corneal thickness.
  • If cornea is not thick enough, laser vision correction could later lead to distortion of the shape of cornea, i.e., corneal ectasia.
• Poor potential vision
  • Laser vision correction should not be performed in eyes, in which the vision is poor from significant amblyopia (i.e., lazy eye) or macular diseases (e.g., macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy).
• Cataract
  • Laser vision correction should not be performed in eyes with cataracts.
  • Cataract tends to progress and could significant affect the glass prescription over time.
• Moderate to severe dry eye
  • Laser vision correction could cause and exacerbate dry eye.
  • Patients with significant dry eye should not undergo laser vision correction until dry eye is under control.
• Collagen vascular diseases
  • Collagen vascular diseases are associated with dry eye and corneal diseases, which could be exacerbated by laser vision correction.
  • Patients with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, or mixed connective tissue disease must be cautioned regarding these risks with laser vision correction.
• Pregnancy and nursing
  • Both pregnancy and nursing can potentially destabilize the current glass prescription.
  • Pregnant women and nursing mothers are generally advised to delay laser vision correction after the end of the pregnancy or stopping nursing.
• Unrealistic expectations
  • Prior to undergo laser vision correction, patient must understand that laser vision correction is to reduce the amount of refractive error (near-sightedness, far-sightedenss, and astigmatism).  Laser vision correction is not meant to give patient ‘perfect’ vision or to completely eliminate the need for glasses.
  • Patients who demand perfect surgical outcomes should not undergo laser vision correction.
  • Patients who have type-A personality or are intense and highly critical by nature should avoid laser vision correction.
  • Patients under psychological stress or with grim outlook on life should not undergo laser vision correction until their psychological stresses have been adequately addressed.
  • Patients, who wear bifocals or reading glasses, may still needs to wear readers after laser vision correction, especially in dark lighting.  Laser vision correction does not eliminate the need for reading glasses in all cases.