LASIK Beneficial for Children as Young as Two Years of Age; Case Data for Youngest U.S. Patient on Record Reported at ASCRS.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2003

Case data from the youngest U.S. patient on record to undergo LASIK vision correction surgery was reported here yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS).

The data describes the case of a two-year-old boy with severe amblyopia ("lazy eye"), and was reported by Jonathan M. Davidorf, M.D., medical director of Davidorf Eye Group (West Hills, Calif.) and assistant clinical professor at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute, in a presentation titled "LASIK: Is it Kid Safe?" (ASCRS Session 2M). The patient was treated by Dr. Davidorf as part of an ongoing study to determine the safety and efficacy of LASIK for children with certain vision disorders.

Prior to surgery, the patient had failed all conventional therapies for amblyopia, including patching and applying atropine eye drops to his dominant eye. Like many children his age, he was also intolerant of glasses and contact lenses. Correcting amblyopia at an early age is critical, because if left untreated past the vision-growing period, it leads to permanent vision loss. Following surgery, the patient's vision in his amblyopic eye improved dramatically, from 20/200 (legally blind) to better than 20/40.

"In such cases, surgery represents a reasonable, even obligatory option because it is the only hope the child has to regain vision," said Dr. Davidorf. "It's clear that the benefits of surgery far outweigh the risks for such children."

Amblyopia affects between three and five percent of the U.S. population. Severe cases in which the patient fails conventional treatment account for more than five out of every 10,000 children -- making the incidence of severe treatment-resistant amblyopia more common than the incidence of juvenile diabetes.

Dr. Davidorf became the first U.S. surgeon to report pediatric LASIK case data in a major medical journal when his results on a teenage girl were published in the November 2000 issue of the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.

In his November 2000 report, Dr. Davidorf also presented guidelines to determine what kinds of pediatric patients may be considered appropriate candidates for surgery. Prospective patients are categorized as obligatory, functional or elective. Obligatory cases include children eight years of age and younger with amblyopia due to high myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and/or astigmatism who have failed conventional therapy. Functional patients include glasses and contact lens-intolerant or noncompliant children with significant myopia, hyperopia and/or astigmatism. At present, Dr. Davidorf insists that only children who fall into the obligatory and functional categories should be viewed as potential candidates.

Note: Dr. Davidorf and the two-year-old patient's parents are available for interview. Photos (jpeg and hard copy) of patient's surgery are also available.