AS-OCT as a tool for flap thickness measurement after femtosecond-assisted LASIK.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: to investigate the efficacy of anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) for calculating flap thickness in femtosecond laser-assisted laser in situ keratomileusis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: fifty-one eyes of 26 patients with myopia and myopic astigmatism were included in this prospective study. High-resolution corneal images were evaluated at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively. Images along the horizontal meridian were measured with the flap tool at seven points.

RESULT: measurements at vertex and at 1 mm nasally and temporally from the vertex were indistinct but easily defined. Although statistically not significant, flaps were found to be thinner in the central cornea and thicker in the periphery (P > .05).

CONCLUSION: AS-OCT provides detailed high-resolution images for quantitative evaluation of the flap-stroma relationship, but it may not be precise in the central 2-mm area of the cornea. Despite this, AS-OCT is an imaging tool with significant utility.