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Okay, so I've seen this stated elsewhere about the nerve density. I have some quesitons though about what it all means. See the text of the article below my questions.
1) If that is the case, then why do some people feel no dryness at all?
2) What do keratocytes do? And should all of us lasik folks be concerned about this?
3) Why aren't doctors more concerned about this?
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Surgeons link nerve recovery to decrease in anterior keratocyte density after LASIK
Sub-basal nerve fiber density shows a gradual yet incomplete recovery that may be associated with a reduction in the density of the most anteriorly located keratocytes more than 2 years after LASIK, a prospective study found.
J. A. O. Moilanen, MD, and colleagues evaluated the 2-year effects of myopic LASIK on corneal thickness, keratocyte density and nerve recovery among 15 eyes of 15 patients with an average refractive error of –10.1 D at baseline. The investigators obtained visual acuity, refraction, biomicroscopy and in vivo confocal microscopy measurements for each patient at 1 and 5 days, 2 weeks, 1, 3 and 6 months and 2 years postoperatively.
At 2 years, all patients had achieved a best corrected visual acuity of 20/20, and nine patients had progressed to within ±0.5 D of intended correction.
Although the total corneal thickness had not changed, epithelial hyperplasia persisted for the duration of follow-up, investigators found.
The density of keratocytes in the anterior stroma and posterior to the flap decreased slightly over follow-up; however, the investigators observed no such reductions in mid-stromal or posterior keratocytes.
Although sub-basal nerve density had decreased 82% at 5-day postop, nerve density was only 64% of the preoperative value at 2 years, according to the study, published in the October issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.
1) If that is the case, then why do some people feel no dryness at all?
2) What do keratocytes do? And should all of us lasik folks be concerned about this?
3) Why aren't doctors more concerned about this?
__
Surgeons link nerve recovery to decrease in anterior keratocyte density after LASIK
Sub-basal nerve fiber density shows a gradual yet incomplete recovery that may be associated with a reduction in the density of the most anteriorly located keratocytes more than 2 years after LASIK, a prospective study found.
J. A. O. Moilanen, MD, and colleagues evaluated the 2-year effects of myopic LASIK on corneal thickness, keratocyte density and nerve recovery among 15 eyes of 15 patients with an average refractive error of –10.1 D at baseline. The investigators obtained visual acuity, refraction, biomicroscopy and in vivo confocal microscopy measurements for each patient at 1 and 5 days, 2 weeks, 1, 3 and 6 months and 2 years postoperatively.
At 2 years, all patients had achieved a best corrected visual acuity of 20/20, and nine patients had progressed to within ±0.5 D of intended correction.
Although the total corneal thickness had not changed, epithelial hyperplasia persisted for the duration of follow-up, investigators found.
The density of keratocytes in the anterior stroma and posterior to the flap decreased slightly over follow-up; however, the investigators observed no such reductions in mid-stromal or posterior keratocytes.
Although sub-basal nerve density had decreased 82% at 5-day postop, nerve density was only 64% of the preoperative value at 2 years, according to the study, published in the October issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.