THOMAS C. AIELLO, M.D.  is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist specializing in Refractive Surgery and Cataract / Implant surgery.  He is Director of the Ophthalmology Clinic at Victory Memorial Hospital and a partner with Aiello Eyecare Associates, which has been providing quality eye care to the Brooklyn community for over 25 years.  He is recognized as a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and is an active member of many medical societies including the American Society of Eye Surgeons and American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

LASIK stands for Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis and is a surgical procedure which combines the use of a Keratome, which is an automated instrument to fold back a thin layer of the cornea, and the Excimer Laser, a cool beam, ultraviolet light used to reshape the internal cornea.

A myopic person is considered to be nearsighted.  In this case, the curvature of the cornea is too great to focus images of distant objects.  The Excimer Laser can be used to flatten the central cornea by removing a microscopically thin layer of tissue, thus allowing the eye to properly focus.  The Excimer Laser works by evaporating small amounts of tissue in multiple high frequency pulses, without any discernible damage to surrounding healthy tissue.  Myopic Laser Vision Correction can be combined with Astigmatic Correction to treat a wide range of refractive errors.

Both nearsightedness and farsightedness can be associated with astigmatism.  In this case, the curvature of the cornea is uneven; rays of light are focused at different points inside the eye, causing image blur.  Currently available Excimer lasers can correct astigmatism simultaneously with the treatment of myopia, thereby improving the sharpness of your vision.  A computerized test called Corneal Topography will measure the shape of your eye before surgery.

A hyperopic person is considered to be farsighted.  In this case, the cornea is too flat and rays of light are not focused properly on the retina.  The Excimer Laser can be used to correct farsightedness by treating the midperiphery of the cornea in a donut pattern; thus, effectively steepening the central cornea.  The goal of Hyperopic Laser Vision Correction is to sharpen your distance vision.  While this treatment will not completely satisfy your need for "reading glasses," it will improve your eyes ability to focus and dramatically decrease your dependency on glasses.