Hello,
I need some advice. I had Lasik on 1/7/04. Last Friday, 1/14, I went in for a follow-up and although I have better than perfect vision (20/15 in each eye), the flap in my left eye is slightly folded. My surgeon recommended I leave the fold as-is, since I have great vision, including night vision. He said it is fine to not perform the refloat since my eyesight is so good and I do not seem to have any side effects from the fold.

My question is, why did this happen? I had a very light prescription going into the surgery (-2.0 in each eye). Does it make sense to not fix the fold in my left eye? Could there be complications down the line if I don't fix it? Could there be an increased risk of side effects or regression? HELP! I don't know what to do?

Thanks,
Tmirah

Forget the visusal results in the office for a moment. The question is - how do you see?? Do you have blurred vision or loss in quality of vision. If so - then you may want to consider a treatment. Obviously you have to discuss the risks vs the benefits of treatment with your surgeon.
Why did this occur? It is one of the risks of LASIK - regardless of the preoperative level of myopia.

Best of luck

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

Hello Dr. Trattler,

My vision is excellent. Everything is very clear--not blurry at all. It sometimes takes me a few minutes to focus, but I assume that is just my eyes getting used to the lasik treatment.
Night vision is also good.

I spoke with my surgeon today (Dr. Mandel of Optima Eye in San Jose, CA) who told me that the folds cover the upper left quadrant of my cornea, at about 30%. He told me I was "borderline" as far as whether to do the treatment or not, i.e., my vision was good enough to keep as is, but also would be totally understandable if I chose to do the procedure, since the risk down the line (although small) could be intraepithelial ingrowth. I am unsure what to do and Dr. Mandel said it was totally my call because we are in a "gray area" since the amount of wrinkle is middle-ground--just enough to bring it to my attention, but not a lot that its disrupting my vision. We discussed the risks of the procedure, i.e., inflammation, infection, but again, this is a small risk.

What do you think? I would really appreciate your opinion.

Many thanks,
Tmirah

>Forget the visusal results in the office
>for a moment. The question
>is - how do you see??
> Do you have blurred vision
>or loss in quality of vision.
>If so - then you may
>want to consider a treatment.
>Obviously you have to discuss the
>risks vs the benefits of treatment
>with your surgeon. Why
>did this occur? It is
>one of the risks of LASIK
>- regardless of the preoperative level
>of myopia.

>Best of luck

>Bill Trattler, MDMiami, FL