ESCRS: Binocular Tolerance Test Can Predict Laser-Blended Vision Success in LASIK

TUESDAY, Sept. 15, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- A preoperative phoropter-based binocular tolerance test can predict successful laser-blended vision (LBV) among patients undergoing LASIK, according to a study presented at the annual congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, held from Sept. 11 to 15 in London.Brendan Cummings, M.B.B.S., from the Wellington Eye Clinic in Dublin, and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing LASIK with blended vision targeting. Simulated anisometropia was introduced into the phoropter; binocular quality was rated by patients relative to full-distance correction. Sensory dominance was established and assigned to the distance eye. Patients with simulated blended vision ≥80 percent of binocular distance could proceed to surgery. The maximum tolerated myopic offset was the target of the near eye, while maintaining binocular quality ≥80 percent.A total of 1,341 patients (2,682 eyes) underwent LASIK with blended vision targeting. Distance correction was applied to the right and left eyes (67.8 and 32.2 percent, respectively). The researchers found that preoperative refractive status was myopic, hyperopic, and emmetropic in 51.8, 44.7, and 3.4 percent, respectively. Induced anisometropia clustered between −1.50 and −1.75 D, representing 62.5 percent of treatments. Overall, 3.1 percent of patients had failure, defined as enhancement converting the reading eye to distance. Across refractive groups, the failure rates were similar (3.45, 3.00, and 0 percent for myopes, hyperopes, and emmetropes, respectively). There was no association seen for failures with greater anisometropia. Most failures occurred within the first postoperative year."We found that a simple, low-tech assessment of perceived distance vision and eye dominance has a very high predictive value for a patient's tolerance of blended vision," Cummings said in a statement.Press ReleaseMore Information.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

ESCRS: Binocular Tolerance Test Can Predict Laser-Blended Vision Success in LASIK

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