Hi I am in Marine Corps ROTC and will be getting PRK surgery
this year to be eligible to fly. Iv had a consultation with a Dr.
Brint in New Orleans, who uses ladarvision and he said my pupils
were around 7 and that the visx wouldnt give me as much
satisfaction as the ladarvision. My eyes are both about -3.
I have read a bunch of other folks' queries on this subject and
they all have gotten a lot of info but no real decision making
statements, if yall could narrow it down a bit more for me I
would appreciate it. Also I will be paying for this myself out of
my lowly students bank account and ladarvision there is over
1000 more. Now obviously quality is first on my list no matter
the price, but if another does the same job for cheaper that
would be preferable.
Thanks a lot
Sam

I am not a doctor but ive read about Intacs. They correct up to -3 diopters which is you. This is another option you may want to discuss with your doctor. They can be removed if results are less than desirable to.

My pupil size is 7mm too and I went to 3 different doctors. Dr. #1 has access to several different lasers (Lader, Nidek etc) and Dr. #2 only has Visx S4. (The both docters are pretty famous and both had more than 1500 surgeries) But the price difference is only $400. Not just for the price reason, but why don't you visit different doctors too?

I guess you already know that Visx has 6.5 mm optical zone + 1.7 mm transition zone and lader has 8 mm. From what I understand, it's better to have same or larger optical zone as your pupil size if you cornia is thick enough. But since you are only -3, so probably Visx is fine for you. (I'm -5 but still considering Visx because I feel more comfortable with Dr. #2)

And, I'm curious... why are you having PRK and not Lasik? PRK Wavefront is my choice so far, but I was told by doctors that I have to have PRK because of the irregular topography and Wavefront because of my pupil size (Wavefront has larger ablation zone). I'm going to docters for 2nd exam next week on 5/15 and 5/17 (I don't need it, but I insisted on it just to be sure of what I'm getting into). If I found any more info, I'll post it here.

My pupil size is 7mm too and I went to 3 different doctors. Dr. #1 has access to several different lasers (Lader, Nidek etc) and Dr. #2 only has Visx S4. (The both docters are pretty famous and both had more than 1500 surgeries) But the price difference is only $400. Not just for the price reason, but why don't you visit different doctors too?
I guess you already know that Visx has 6.5 mm optical zone + 1.7 mm transition zone and lader has 8 mm. From what I understand, it's better to have same or larger optical zone as your pupil size if you cornia is thick enough. But since you are only -3, so probably Visx is fine for you. (I'm -5 but still considering Visx because I feel more comfortable with Dr. #2)

And, I'm curious... why are you having PRK and not Lasik? PRK Wavefront is my choice so far, but I was told by doctors that I have to have PRK because of the irregular topography and Wavefront because of my pupil size (Wavefront has larger ablation zone). I'm going to docters for 2nd exam next week on 5/15 and 5/17 (I don't need it, but I insisted on it just to be sure of what I'm getting into). If I found any more info, I'll post it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The reason he's going for PRK over Lasik is because he's trying to be a military pilot. The US military will only take pilots that have had PRK done because there is no flap creation. The reason for this is a fear that because there's a flap when under high g-force load that pilots can experience doctors are afraid that the flap may become dislodged.

I think you can see why they're worried as if a pilot is in combat and the front of his eye pretty much falls off... well it wouldn't be good. :)

Also from what I've read there are fewer possibilities for complications with PRK vs Lasik... again all to do with flap creation. My surgery date is for Dec. 15 for VISX S4 Wavefront guided PRK surgery. I'm a pilot (civilian) so I want to keep a military option open as well. The down side to PRK is the healing time is much longer and more initial discomfort while the epithelium heals. Also looks like 3 months before the script really balances itself out. On the plus side the doc I'm going to has a 100% success rate with PRK surgery for people near my script. -3.00R -3.25L no astigmatism.

I'll post back here after my surgery to say how it went.