Zonal photorefractive keratectomy for presbyopia.

PURPOSE We performed zonal excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy in three eyes of three presbyopic patients using a specially designed mask, with a minimum follow-up of 24-months. METHODS Two females (ages 59 and 48) and one male (age 55) were included in the study. The procedure was performed with a mask designed by one of the authors (GMN), applied to the Aesculap-Meditec Mel 60 excimer laser. The mask consists of a mobile diaphragm formed by two blunt blades. The aim in all the eyes was a presbyopic correction of 3.00 D. RESULTS After an initial regression of 1.00 D, the presbyopic correction remained stable during the 36-month follow-up. The patients read at least J3 at normal reading distance without correction. Since the ablated zone was only about 15% of the total area of a 3.0 mm pupil, all three patients were also able to read with their preoperative presbyopic correction (using the untreated 85% of the pupillary area). CONCLUSION Although only three eyes were treated with the zonal presbyopia mask presented here, the visual and refractive outcome appears promising in view of the relatively long follow-up time.