Yesterday, the newspapers Tages-Anzeiger, Der Bund, and Basler Zeitung published a story on laser eye surgery complications, and featured ELZA’s Medical Director, Prof. Farhad Hafezi as the expert contributor to the article.The article reported on the experience of Maja Hauser, a Swiss lady who experienced severe laser eye surgery complications from a poorly executed laser surgery. Fourteen years ago, at the age of 22, Maja underwent laser surgery to correct a refractive error of -14 diopters so that she did not have to wear contact lenses any longer. Unfortunately, after the surgery, she was still short-sighted by -4.75 diopters, still had to wear contact lenses, and a month later, she developed complications in her right eye: inflammation, which persisted for several years afterward.
The journalist, Gabriele Hellwig, interviewed Prof. Hafezi for his expert opinion and to understand why cases of laser surgery eye complications like Mrs. Hauser’s can occur. Prof. Hafezi explained that despite the high satisfaction rate of 95% reported in studies, a proportion of the remaining 5% of cases can result in significant, lifelong issues. His criticism extended toward the industry’s tendency towards aggressive marketing, aimed at capturing a larger market share, sometimes at the expense of patient safety. This issue is exemplified by Mrs. Hauser’s ordeal, who was lured by the promise of a life free from glasses and contact lenses, only to face the consequences of the surgery.
In the article Prof. Hafezi underscores the importance of thorough preoperative assessments, which are often neglected, leading to inappropriate patient selection and surgical plans. He also emphasized that many surgeons meet their patients for the first time on the day of surgery, and this risks missing critical nuances that could influence the surgery’s outcome.
The article also discusses the technical aspects of laser surgery, including the need for up-to-date equipment and the choice between different surgical methods (PRK, LASIK, and SMILE). Prof. Hafezi argues that the lack of comprehensive preoperative evaluation, and a reliance on outdated or unsuitable techniques can lead to complications such as too much tissue being removed, decentered laser ablations leading to irregular corneal curvatures or scarring. Much like the adage: “to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”, there will be some situations where a patient is offered a suboptimal laser surgery procedure, simply because the surgeon does not have the equipment or the experience to perform the alternative technique. Some of these complications require innovative new approaches like corneal cross-linking (CXL), Femto CAIRS and PACE to repair the cornea.
Prof. Hafezi spoke of his work at the ELZA Institute, which includes correcting failed laser surgeries, and he highlighted the delicate nature of these procedures and the importance of expertise and proper equipment. He stressed that although blindness from such complications is rare nowadays, severe visual impairments are still a reality, but they should be far rarer than they currently are. The article concludes with Hauser’s successful corrective surgery performed by Prof. Hafezi, which restored her vision – she now has no refractive error in her right eye.
