Starburst after YAG Laser

[Dpletch]

I originally wanted Lasik to correct my vision, however, I discovered that I had the start of cataracts, so I had cataract surgery instead.  In Oct 2011, the crystalline lens was removed from each eye and an IOL (Crystalens) was inserted.  I chose monovision, and love the well-rounded nature of my vision.  I still need reading glasses for a lot of reading, but can read for short periods of time (30 minutes) without the glasses.  A month later my doctor indicated that I had the start of posterior capsule opacification.  In Dec 2011, I had YAG laser posterior capsulotomy performed on my left eye.  Immediately afterwards, at night I experienced starbursts around car headlights, street lamps, traffic lights, candles, etc.  Really any light at night.  The starbursts are somewhat present during the day, but do not pose a problem for me.  I have always been sensitive to light, but this issue is a whole new story.  It makes it very difficult to drive at night, and impossible to drive at night if raining.  A week later I had the YAG surgery performed on my right eye.  I hesitated having it done, but my doctor assured me that the starburst effect would decrease over time, which it has, but not significantly.  Today I returned to the doctor (2 years later) to discuss this issue.  I had read in other threads regarding this issue that the starburst were possibly caused by wrinkes in the lense, debrise, etc.   I discussed all of this with my doctor.  They examined my eyes/lenses, but came up with no solutions, so they suggested glasses for driving.  I have seen where people have been told to get corrective lenses with antiglare for driving, and I have also seen where there are only minimally effective.  Im at a loss for understanding the problem.  Clearly the YAG procedure cased the problems, but cannot seem to find a solution.  HELP!!!

[user4444]

Hello, I know this is an old question, but did you ever get some relief from the starbursts? I had YAG this past week and it too caused starbursts. It's day 5 and I'm concerned they will be long lasting.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Zero chance of response. Make a new posting if you want a discussion

[mtngal]

I am having the exact same problems...I had a clear lens exchange performed in both eyes in May 2013 and a YAG capsulotomy on my right eye in Oct 2013.  Before the YAG, I had halos at night around lights in both eyes.  Now I think I still have halos in both eyes, but I cannot tell for sure since the starbursts in my right eye are so blindingly brilliant.  I started seeing them the evening after the YAG.  I also see them in the day around any bright light, although it's not as pronounced.  Since I never had the procedure done on my left eye, I still see the same way as I did after the surgery (halos), with perhaps a bit more haziness as time has passed.  I am afraid to have the procedure done on my left eye, because if it creates starbursts like the ones in the right eye, I will be effectively blind at night.  My starbursts also rotate as I move my eyes, kind of like I'm looking up at a light source from underwater.  If I look at the same spot near a light for several seconds, I will sometimes see a long red horizontal line appear through the light.  I'll be getting my fourth opinion on this soon...no one seems to know what's going on.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I would suggest you get a second opinion from another cataract/refractive Eye MD surgeon. You might benefit from glasses at night, you might need the opening in the posterior capsule enlarged. your cornea needs to be examined with topography looking for irregular astigmatism.

If you live in USA find a eye surgeon near you at www.geteyesmart.org

JCHMD