I have been referred (by several friends) to Dr. Randa Garrana for Lasik surgery. She is not board certified but has performed over 10,000 lasik prodedures. How can I find out as much as I can regarding her reputation and success before I decide? She is also using the Nidek Laser Machine.......do you also have any info on that as well??

>I have been referred (by several friends)
>to Dr. Randa Garrana for Lasik
>surgery. She is not board
>certified but has performed over 10,000
>lasik prodedures. How can I
>find out as much as I
>can regarding her reputation and success
>before I decide? She is
>also using the Nidek Laser Machine.......do
>you also have any info on
>that as well??

I saw her (Randa Garrana - Premier Laser) for my first consult 2 weeks ago.
Her stats look good - I had a pleasant chat w/her & others in the office. I'm -2 in each eye, minor ast (.25 & .5) my concern is 7.5mm pupil.... any comments?
I've check around & gone to two other locations for a conslt - She seems the best overall for my situation.

Anyone have history w/ her or Nidek Laser?

-dt

This may be too late for you, but you may want to re-think your decision about Dr. Garrana for your Lasik. I met with her and agree she is great (except for the fact she neglected to mention the potential problems with pupils my size). Like me, you have pupils around 7.5 mm. Dr. Garrana uses the Nidek laser system. Unfortunately, the Nidek won't work well for pupils that size. If I understand the various things I've read, and I don't recall exact numbers so please forgive me, the Nidek treats up to around 7.0 mm, but with no phasing out beyond that. What this means is that beyond that area it will not shape/smooth the cornea. Hence, when our eyes are fully dialated, there is a portion of the cornea allowing light to pass thru that is not shaped to match the new profile of our eyes. This can create halo effects and other visual problems. The best current laser for treatment of large pupils appears to be the B&L Technolas 217a. I'm still doing research on it, but so far I would recommend you look for someone that uses that machine.

The Technolas treats uip to 7-7.5mm of surface than phases out up to 10mm. This produces a good rounded shape to the cornea. Hence, when your pupil is fully dialated light should be refracted appropriately.

Again, I have just started my research, but this is the perspective I have.

I, too, believe the Bausch & Lomb Technolas 217 is probably the best laser for large pupils. However, I have a problem with a 10 mm treatment area. The largest flap cut is usually 9.5 mm (the larger of the two available Hansatome keratomes). I have seen doctors speak of a 10 mm treatment with a 9.5 mm flap. This means some of the laser is zapping the epithelial (top) layer outside of the flap area. I've seen this suggestion kind of shrugged off but I have to wonder if this is not prudent. I don't think I would go for it.

I think a more reasonable treatment would be a 6.5 mm Central Ablation Zone (CAZ) with a Transition Zone (TZ) out to 9.5 mm or a 6 mm CAZ with 9 mm TZ. These setting would allow treating mild/moderate prescriptions with pupil sizes up to about 8 mm and moderate/high prescriptions with pupil sizes up to about 7.5 mm.

I'm not a doctor.