AIM:To compare the clinical outcomes of wavefront-guided and wavefront-optimized laser in situ keratomileusis(LASIK)to correct myopia and myopic astigmatism in patients with a preoperative total ocular higher-order aberrations(HOAs)lower than 0.3μm.

METHODS:In this prospective study, 60 eyes of 30 patients with myopia with or without astigmatism in our department were included. One eye of each patient was randomized to undergo wavefront-guided LASIK, and the fellow eye received wavefront-optimized LASIK. Postoperative outcome measures at 6mo included visual acuity, refraction, ocular HOAs, and contrast sensitivity under mesopic condition. Paired t-test and χ² test were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS:Six months postoperatively, 93% of eyes in the wavefront-guided group and 90% in the wavefront-optimized group had uncorrected visual acuity of 5.0 or better; 87% and 83%, respectively, had a postoperative spherical equivalent refraction of ±0.50D diopter. The differences were not statistically significant(P>0.05). No eye in either group lost 2 lines or more BCVA. Total HOAs, spherical aberration and coma increased in both groups postoperatively(P<0.01), with no statistical differences in HOA changes between groups(P>0.05). Contrast sensitivity under mesopic conditions in both groups recovered to preoperative levels at all spatial frequencies at 6mo postoperative(P>0.05).

CONCLUSION:For eyes with preoperative HOAs lower than 0.3μm, wavefront-guided LASIK and wavefront-optimized LASIK can provide similar results in terms of visual acuity, refraction, HOAs, and contrast sensitivity.