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NEW AUTONOMOUS LADARVision LASER BEAM HELPS TO ELIMINATE NIGHT GLARE FOR CERTAIN PATIENTS AFTER THEY RECEIVE LASER EYE SURGERY 

Dr. Barrie Soloway, MD, FACS, the First Ophthalmic Surgeon in the United States to use the Autonomous LADARvision Laser Tracking System to Treat Larger Optical Zones, is Helping to Abolish a Common Side Effect Associated with Laser Vision Correction, Night Glare

NEW YORK, N.Y.—February, 2000 -- As a result of recent advances in vision correction, millions of people around the world are happily throwing away their eyeglasses and contact lenses.   Over the past few years, the excimer laser has helped to eliminate nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism -- a major medical breakthrough.

Most patients with large pupil sizes who receive laser surgery will experience varying degrees of what's referred to in the medical field as GASH (Glare, Arching, Star bursts or Haloes) during night-driving.  Although an experienced eye surgeon greatly reduces the potential for this occurrence by screening these patients out prior to surgery, many patients may experience haloes and star bursts temporarily (up to the first few months after surgery) when driving at night due to dryness. 

With the development of the Autonomous LADARVision laser vision tracking system, and Dr. Barrie Soloway, Director of the Autonomous Laser Vision Center of Excellence at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, and Surgical Director of Vista Alliance Eye Care Associates, these night-vision occurrences are becoming rarer. This particular laser system enables the surgeon to track patients' movements during the procedure for incredibly precise centering of the shaping of the cornea.  Dr. Soloway, director of surgeon training for LADARVision, was the first surgeon in New York to offer his patients laser vision correction with the Autonomous LADARVision system, and he has been using it in New York since September 1999 when it first arrived at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary.

Common and older-generation laser beams such as the Visx or Summit (which treat nearsightedness, astigmatism and farsightedness) use what's known as a broad beam laser, and are limited to treating a small-size optical zone. The maximum size will only allow the surgeon to treat a maximum of 6.5 millimeters on the patient's optical zone.  With astigmatic correction, the zone becomes even smaller, at times, only allowing the surgeon to treat as far out as 4.5 millimeters.  With a broad-beam laser, the treated optical zone may not fully cover the pupil which dilates or gets larger in dim light, causing glare.  Another possbility for glare is that the optical zone treated may not be centered on the pupil. All of this can lead to either temporary and occasionally permanent night-time haloes, or star bursts, often experienced when driving a car.

Along with Autonomous's state-of-the-art laser, Dr. Soloway is able to dramatically reduce the number of these occurrences.  The system uses a small spot scanning laser as opposed to the older broad-beam lasers, enabling Dr. Soloway to operate as far out as 10 millimeters on the optical zone.  What's more, the Autonomous laser has a centration feature, which is accomplished by using a still picture of the laser tracking the eye, allowing the surgeon to treat the area with better accuracy. It is the combination of a larger optical zone treatment area, and better centration which help to reduce any night-time glare by fully covering the pupil which is larger in dim light.

Who is a good candidate for this?  According to Dr. Soloway, "People who have lower levels of nearsightedness and astigmatism are benefiting the most because of the larger treatment size. As an example, a young person with a prescription of -3.25 (mildly nearsighted with astigmatism) who has a 6.5 millimeter size pupil in dim light, is going to have a much lower potential for glare on the Autonomous LADARVision laser system than he/she would on a broad beam laser.  We've done studies in our office on patients who have had the Autonomous with pupils as large as 8.0 millimeters.  These patients show no significant glare even at the one-week point after having laser eye surgery."

Dr. Soloway is the Surgical Director of Vista Alliance Eye Care Associates and has been in private practice in New York City since 1986.  He is also director of the  Autonomous LADARVision Center of Excellence at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary's Vision Correction Center and the principal investigator of nearsighted and farsighted laser vision correction surgery. 

Dr. Soloway, who is at the forefront of new vision correction technologies, is one of six ophthalmologists in the United States to offer a breakthrough non-laser procedure called SRP during phase I FDA monitored clinical trials. This treatment reverses presbyopia—eliminating the need for reading glasses.

He was also the first ophthalmologist in the United States to offer Intacs™, after FDA approval. Intacs™ are the first FDA-approved non-laser surgical treatment designed for people with mild nearsightedness. The procedure requires inserting precision-engineered inert ring segments into the peripheral cornea.

Dr. Soloway, who is regularly featured on local and national television health programs, and listed as one of the "Best Doctors in New York" in numerous book and magazine polls, was the first doctor in New York to offer LASIK laser vision correction surgery to farsighted patients. He has been performing refractive surgery since 1984 -- first using the excimer laser surgery for vision correction during the clinical trials in 1990.

If you would like to read other articles or see broadcast segments in which Dr.  Soloway has appeared, please call toll-free 1-888-NYLASIK.

If you don't want to be dependent on glasses or contact lenses call Vista Alliance Eye Care Associates, The New York LASIK doctors toll free at 1-888-NYLASIK (1-888-695-2745) for more information on any of our Vision Correction procedures (LASIK, INtacs, ICL or SRP), to schedule a personal evaluation to help you determine the right prodecure for you, or to register for one of our classes or  seminars