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Dr. Den Beste loves his baseball team !!!

 

Coach Den Beste and his son Reid pictured on the far right.

 

 

Lasik Patients Satisfied Despite Concerns

FDA hears surprising data on Lasik patient quality of life.

 
WASHINGTON, DC- April 25, 2008 - More than 99% of patients report their quality of life after laser vision correction surgery is as they had expected or better, even though 2% report complications that are frequently or always problematic, according to a national patient survey conducted by the nonprofit Council or Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance (USAEyes, http://www.USAEyes.org). Preliminary results of the USAEyes Competence Opinion Relative to Expectation (CORE) patient survey are being presented to the US Food and Drug Administration during a special hearing today.
 
"The USAEyes CORE survey is designed to determine if patients are getting what they expect from Lasik and similar eye surgery," says Glenn Hagele, Executive Director of the nonprofit patient advocacy that conducted the study. "Relevant questions ask if the patient's results were 'as expected', or degrees of 'better than expected' or 'worse than expected'." The survey is used to screen Lasik doctors for certification by USAEyes.
 
The survey was mailed to 1,800 vision correction surgery patients of six doctors throughout the US, with a 31% response rate.
 
"It is not surprising that the vast majority of Lasik patients are satisfied with their results, but what was unexpected was that many would have the surgery again despite reporting complications," reports Hagele.
 
Of those who reported complications that were "seldom problematic", 91% would have the surgery again. A surprising 22% of patients who reported complications that were "frequently" or "always" problematic would have the surgery again, according to patients who responded to the survey. "Clearly some patients find the convenience of a reduced need for glasses and contacts worth occasional problems," says Hagele.
 
Additional results of the USAEyes CORE patient survey:
  • 99% report quality of life as expected, better, or much better after vision correction surgery
  • 98% state day vision as expected, better, or much better
  • 98% report no complications or complications that are seldom problematic
  • 98% would recommend surgery to family and friends.
  • 97% would have surgery again, knowing what they know now
  • 96% wear corrective lenses as often as expected, less than expected, or much less than expected
  • 96% report postop vision without lenses as expected, better, or much better than expected when compared to preop vision with lenses
  • 96% report overall quality of vision as expected, better, or much better than expected
  • 91% report no complications at any time
  • 91% state night vision as expected, better, or much better than expected
  • 7% report complications seldom problematic, however 91% of these same patients would have surgery again
  • 2% report complications frequent or always problematic, however 22% of these same patients would have surgery again

Research explores visual impairments in elderly drivers.

Canada's Gazette (7/7, Derfel) reported that "[e]lderly motorists with cataracts are 2.5 times more likely to cause a car crash than seniors whose eyesight is not impaired," according to a study presented on Monday at the International Conference on Low Vision. Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., of Alabama's University of Birmingham, and colleagues, found that "when drivers with cataracts have them surgically removed, they no longer pose an increased risk."

Therefore, "Owsley recommended that ophthalmologists and optometrists start taking a more aggressive approach in referring elderly patients for cataract surgery." At the same conference, researchers from the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Harvard Medical School "revealed that some elderly drivers who are visually impaired continue to drive, even though they wouldn't pass an eye exam."

The Harvard study indicated that "24 percent of people with age-related macular degeneration...continue to drive. Out of that number, 77 percent would not meet vision requirements to drive."

Eye experts stress importance of consumer research before undergoing LASIK.

In continuing coverage from previous editions of First Look, California's Alameda Times-Star (7/8, Morrill) reports that while the majority of patients who undergo laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery are pleased with the outcome, "still a small percentage...are less than satisfied." Approximately "five percent of them have unsatisfactory results," and "about one percent, or less, have serious consequences, such as loss of vision.

More common risks include dry eye and a halo effect." Therefore, "credible eye doctors advise the importance of doing thorough research and talking to several doctors before" undergoing "any kind of eye procedures." Eye experts point out that not all patients are good candidates for the procedure. Some even "worry that patients who don't really need the corrections are being steered in a direction they don't need to go."

 

 

Here I am at 58  seeing like I did when I was 6!  What an amazing miracle!

-Teri Baker

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