Lee Swanson Research Update

Vitamin C May Help Thwart Corneal Haze Following Laser Eye Surgery

October 2003

A Norwegian study suggests that vitamin C supplementation may prevent development of corneal haze in persons who have undergone photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) laser eye surgery.

Aleksandar Stojanovic, M.D., compared a group of 212 people who had PRK between 1996 and 1998 but did not take vitamin C with a group of 152 people who received the surgery between 1998 and 2000 and took vitamin C.

The supplementing group took 500 mg of vitamin C twice a day one week prior to surgery and for two weeks after surgery. Haze was evaluated at one day, one week, three months, and six months and was graded on a scale of zero to four. Late corneal haze was defined as an acute haze of grade 2 (moderate, with difficult refraction) or higher beginning at least four months after treatment.

None of the people in the vitamin C group developed late corneal haze, but 3.5% of those in the non-supplemented group did—a statistically significant difference. Higher nearsightedness correlated with an increased haze risk.

Journal of Refractive Surgery 19(3):338-43, 2003

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