Word: vision
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...also important to realize that 20/20 vision isn't synonymous with perfect eyesight. The standard eye chart measures vision under conditions in which contrast is high. But there are other factors, like how well you see in dim light or discriminate among various shades of gray, that help determine the overall quality of your vision and that can be adversely affected by LASIK...
...Steven Assennata of East Brunswick, N.J. "If I had understood there was a chance I would be worse off, I might have changed my mind," he says. LASIK corrected his eyesight to 20/20 all right, at least in one eye, but left him seeing double and ruined his night vision so that he can no longer drive after dark. The worst part, he says, is knowing he didn't need the surgery. Although his contacts were becoming a nuisance before the operation, he could have seen fine through admittedly thick glasses. Assennata's doctor says he was made aware...
...surgeons first tried using the excimer laser to correct vision in a procedure called photorefractive keratectomy. They scaled off the cornea's outermost protective layer, or epithelium. Then they vaporized some of the underlying tissue with the laser, forcing the cornea to flatten or steepen, depending on the correction. Although the epithelium always grew back, the cornea retained its new shape. It was a big improvement over radial keratotomy, although the healing of the epithelium remained painful...
Another big advance in the works could provide nearly all patients with better than 20/20 vision. Today's lasers, and the computer programs that run them, assume all corneas are more or less spherical. Scientists are developing instruments that will map the entire surface of the cornea and make point-by-point alterations to smooth out individual aberrations. Such carefully customized reshaping of the cornea could make astounding improvements in vision more of a sure thing...
...doctor won't tell you what his or her complication rate is, find another one. Ask how many of the doctor's patients have worse vision--even with contacts or glasses--than they did before the surgery. For top doctors the figure is under...