Supported by ASCRS, Clinical Research Consultants, and Document Solutions Group, this web site is designed to further our understanding of corneal ectasia after LASIK.

Phase I will provide a database for submission of data on patients who have developed ectasia after LASIK.  Collective data will be analyzed and compared to control groups of patients who have undergone LASIK without complications, in an effort to validate known risk factors for LASIK and to discover new ones.

Phase II will include prospective clinical trials of LASIK in cases with preoperative characteristics that might raise concern about the development of ectasia, but have not been proven to increase the risk of developing it.  Examples of such cases might include eyes with preoperative corneal thicknesses of less than 480 microns and asymmetrical inferior steepening that does not meet published criteria for forme fruste keratoconus.  It is anticipated that physicians who participate in Phase I of this project will be selected to participate in Phase II.

Ophthalmologists who care for patients with ectasia are encouraged to participate in the registry by entering de-identified data on their patients.  Each participant will have access to his/her own database and, eventually, to de-identified data from other participants.  The database will be analyzed periodically for reports to the profession in an effort to identify previously unrecognized risk factors for ectasia and share this information most efficiently.

This is a “work in progress,” and we are willing to make changes in the registry that might facilitate data entry or analysis.  Please forward comments and recommendations to me at ophtrds@emory.edu.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

R. Doyle Stulting, MD, PhD

Professor of Ophthalmology

Emory University

Atlanta, GA