Immediate Visual Recovery In The Presbyopic-Age Population: 24-Hour Outcomes Of 51 Klex Cases With The Atos Laser

To challenge the paradigm of delayed visual rehabilitation in lenticule extraction. This study evaluates the 24-hour visual outcomes of Keratorefractive Lenticule Extraction (KLEx) using the ATOS femtosecond laser in a specific demographic of patients aged 40 and older.

Single-center, private ophthalmic surgical facility, Warsaw, Krakow Poland.

This retrospective analysis included 51 eyes from 51 unique patients to eliminate inter-eye correlation. The study population had a mean age of 44.8 ± 3.5 years (Median: 44.0; Range: 40.1 to 52.8). The pre-operative mean spherical equivalent (SE) was -3.94 ± 1.72 D (Median: -3.88; Range: -1.38 to -8.38 D). All patients underwent KLEx with the ATOS femtosecond laser. Day 1 Uncorrected Visual Acuity (UCVA) was compared against pre-operative Best-Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA).

On Post-operative Day 1, 78.7% of patients achieved 20/20 (0.0 logMAR) or better. Remarkably, 100% of the 51 patients met the legal driving requirement of 20/40 or better within 24 hours. The Efficacy Index was 0.93 at Day 1. No correlation was found between age and recovery speed (r=0.07), indicating that the "older" cornea in the 40+ group does not delay healing with this platform. 87.5% of patients were within 1 line of their lifetime maximum visual potential (pre-op BCVA) on Day 1.

KLEx with the ATOS laser provides "LASIK-like" immediate visual rehabilitation in patients over 40. By achieving a 0.93 efficacy index on Day 1, this technology effectively removes the primary barrier to lenticule extraction in the working-age population—the expectation of a slow return to clear vision.