I worked with American professor Dr. Stephen Trokel, known as the father of laser eye surgery, and performed my first surgeries under his supervision. We also hosted him in Istanbul twice and gave conferences to Turkish doctors together. Dr. Trokel first published a medical article about correcting visual disorders by re-shaping the cornea with the help of excimer laser in 1983. Below is industry praise for his accomplishments:

"Dr. Stephen Trokel is widely regarded for his pioneering work in the development and application of excimer lasers in corneal refractive surgery and as being the first ophthalmologist to recognize the significance of such an application. Dr. Trokel's vision and exhaustive research has made laser vision correction a realistic alternative to glasses and contacts for millions worldwide. He remains an innovator working to further develop and implement new technology."(http://www.ascrs.org/Awards/Stephen-Trokel.cfm)

I also received education from and performed surgeries with Marguerite McDonald, MD, who treated the first human eye using a VISX laser system in 1989. (Excimer Laser Ablation Human Eye Marguerite B. McDonald, MD; Herbert E. Kaufman, MD; Jonathan M. Frantz, MD; Stewart Shofner, MD; Bayardo Salmeron, MD; Stephen D. Klyce, PhD New Orleans, La Arch Ophthalmol. 1989;107(5):641-642)

In addition, I have attended almost all international meetings of the American and European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Associations for 19 years. And I have numerous certifications from seminars and educational programs given at those annual meetings.

The major changes that lead to eye disorders occur between six and 18 years old. After age 18, the increase in diopters would be very small and slow. Of course, treatment does not stop this change. The return of visual disorders following the first laser treatment method, PRK, was 10 percent. With newer methods like LASIK treatment, the percentage of visual disorder recurrence is negligible.

Laser eye surgery has been performed around the world for 19 years; in terms of number of procedures, it is the world's most performed surgery. Laser eye surgery is also the most successful type of surgery. In addition, these treatments result in the highest percentage of patient satisfaction.

We know all the side effects and adverse effects of treatment. I have performed more than 55,000 laser eye surgeries over 19 years and educated many ophthalmologists. From our own experiences, as well as several clinical studies, it has been proven that the side effects or complications of laser eye surgery are quite low when the proper treatment plan is followed on suitable patients.

I do not think additional side effects will occur in the future. I believe, instead, that new technologies and methods of treatment await us in the future, with genetic treatments replacing laser eye surgery.

In our clinic, my colleagues and I have performed more than 130,000 succesful laser eye surgeries. I, personally, have performed more than 55,000.

LASIK, as well as other types of laser eye surgeries, do not require general anesthesia. Treatment lasts a maximum of 10 minutes, so we use only a single eye drop as a local anesthetic. Before surgery begins, I talk to my patients about each step of the procedure. In my experience, it helps calm patients when their physician is experienced and confident in his abilities.

Though possible, we rarely give sedative drugs (diazepam) for anxiety relief. The good news is that I have never had a patient decide against surgery because of anxiety.

Success is a relative concept. If it is described according to patient satisfaction, I can tell you that the number of patients who are not satisfied with their results is quite low. Rather, the vision they end up with meets their expectations. We, however, consider a surgery succesful if the post-surgery result is between +0.50 and -0.50 diopters. This interval can be enlarged up to -1 and +1 in some cases. Success rate by the degree of myopia varies from 90 to 99 percent.

Rather than pain, patients experience an uncomfortable feeling in the eye. They often say it feels like they have sand in their eye because it burns and itches. This feeling lasts about four hours and is common whether they have LASIK, IntraLASIK, or CustomVue Wavefront LASIK.

In the old method, called PRK, patients had severe pain for two days. Today's advanced version of PRK, LASEK, results in light pain, burning, and itching in the eye for three days.

In our Istanbul clinic, I use the most advanced lasers in the world. One of them, the Mel 80, is produced by Zeiss. The other, the VISX S4 with Wavescan Technology, is manufcatured by the largest American laser-producing company. I also use the Intralase FS sytem, which incorporates Nobel Prize-winning technology.

In our Rotterdam clinic, I use the Allegretto-Wave Concerto 500.

Yes. The book, called "Lasik," was authored with my collegues from Turkiye Hospital Eye Clinic. It is the first book about LASIK written in Turkish for Turkish ophthalmologists, and it includes both theoretical and practical information. We also have educated hundreds of ophthalmologists in our clinic.

There is no guarantee with any medical treatment. We can only give statistics and provide information to patients about the possible side effects of the treatment and expected final outcome. None of the information presented to patients should be taken as a guarantee, which is why we always speak in terms of percentages and possible intervals.

Es gibt drei wichtige Faktoren im Hinblick auf den Erfolg einer Augenlaseroperation:
1. Up-to-date technology
2. Best implementation of this technology
3. A physician and medical staff that specializes in this area

There is a significant cost to maintain all of these things. All organs of the body are precious, and the eyes are particularly important. However, we don't charge your life's savings to treat these precious organs. The location of the surgery makes a big difference in the final cost. In our Rotterdam clinic, for example, our treatment prices are nearly double those in Istanbul. Because costs are higher over there, that has to be reflected in the final price the patient pays. However, wages and tax rates are lower in our Istanbul clinic than they are in Rotterdam, which is why the treatment is more affordable.

Our clinic is one of first in the country to offer excimer laser treatment. Dr. Hanefi Cakir, Dr. Bozkurt Sener, Dr. Emrullah Tasindi, Dr. Sinan Goker, and I pioneered these treatments in Turkey.

It is possible, of course. But we do not use any device or treatment method that has not been approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which involves strict tested.

We have shared our knowledge and experience with more than 100 eye doctors from Turkey, as well as Danish opticians who want to specialize in laser eye surgery.

Wavefront is not a different surgical procedure; rather, it is involves a different form of application. In LASIK, the refractive errors on the cornea are mapped and treated according to the average of all errors. With Wavefront LASIK, the refractive errors on the cornea are mapped in hundreds of points, and each is treated one by one. It is much more of an individualized treatment.

Wavefront offers a better quality of vision. In many cases, patients end up with better vision that they experienced with glasses and contacts prior to treatment. That result has earned Wavefront the nickname "eagle eye surgery."

The first phase of LASIK treatment involves cutting the cornea in the shape of a contact lens around 160 microns thick. The resulting tissue is called the corneal flap. The second step is treating the visual disorder with the help of an excimer laser beam.

The first phase, forming the flap, is a mechanical process done with a device called a microkeratome. Microkeratomes use special blades for this procedure. The quality of the blades is extremely important because the procedure is very delicate; in fact, 90 percent of the side effects of LASIK occur in this first step.

Although microkeratome devices are high-tech, it is not always possible to get an optimal incision in terms of desirable thickness and diameter of the tissue. It is especially difficult to achieve a "standard" incision with thin, flat corneas. The highly-reliable IntraLase, which debuted in 2004, allows surgeons to eliminate complications when preparing the corneal flap. Unlike the microkeratome blade, this technology creates the desired diameter and thickness in nearly any patient. Although it is recommended for all kinds of visual disorders, IntraLase must be used in patients with corneas below 40 diopters (degrees), those with steep corneas over 47 diopters, and patients with hyperopia and mixed astigmatism. IntraLASIK is an excellent, though rather expensive, treatment method.

No. We do not perform procedures or use methods that are not approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

It is possible to treat myopia up to -12 with excimer laser. Myopia higher than -12 can also be treated; however, additional treatment methods must be combined with LASIK.

Patients often are concerned with this possibility. The truth is that patients can move their eyes as much as they want because modern technology minimizes any risk. We have experienced acts of nature—including earthquakes and fires—during surgeries, as well as more common "emergencies" like power outages. The system responds by immediately locking itself. We can stop the treatment and continue where we left off later.

The eye is a complicated organ. It is not possible for every physician to specialize in the entire eye, which is why eye disorders are divided into several branches. So no, not all eye doctors are qualified to perform laser eye surgery. Choosing a physician who has both theoretical and practical training in this area is essential.

There are three groups of patients.
1st group: Correction of patient's visual disorder is a medical necessity. This group includes people who have different defects in both eyes—the right eye has -0.75 and the left eye has -4.00, for example. This visual error cannot be balanced with glasses. If a patient has visual disorders higher than 5 to 6 diopters, we consider the correction a medical necessity because they cannot walk around without glasses or contacts. Also, patients who have had an eye disease treated, yet spots remain on the cornea, should be treated with laser eye surgery.

2nd Group: Patients who fall into this category want to have surgery for social reasons. This group cannot perform their profession or hobbies easily while wearing glasses or contact lenses: athletes, soldiers, pilots, divers, etc.

3rd Group: This group consists of patients who want laser eye surgery for psychological reasons. Most of the patients we operate on fall into this group. These patients do not want to wear glasses or contacts for any number of reasons: it limits their freedom, causes headaches, makes rainy or snowy days difficult, or causes a constant heaviness on the bridge of the nose. Others simply believe that glasses don't look good and want laser eye surgery for aesthetic reasons.

No, some patients are better candidates than others.

• Patients should have a visual disorder that can be corrected with laser eye surgery.
• Patients must be at least 18 years of age, though there is no upper age limit.
• Patients should not have an eye disease such as kerataconus or glaucoma, and they should not have severe eye dryness or eye arthritis.
• Patients who wear contact lenses must remove them a minimum of one week before treatment.

Those are the only standard qualifications; the rest is at the discretion of the physician. The actual treatment process is very simple. Both eyes can be operated on in 10 minutes, and patients start to see in two to three hours. Patients can drive and even begin working the next day. With the help of today's laser eye treatments, we are able to treat nearly all refractive errors—whether the patient has hyperopia or mixed astigmatisma, myopia or astigmatism.

Currently, the most problematic treatment involves near vision issues that start after age 45. Also, the treatment of hyperopia in the elderly needs additional research and study.

If there is even a slight risk of a less-than-desirableoutcome, I do not perform the procedure. Rather than laser eye surgery, I turn to alternative tretament methods. In order to perform these treatments successfully, physicians must have knowledge of infrastructure, the necessary skills, and a great deal of experience.

Surgeons must be completely familiar with the disorder or disease they are treating and have a record of accurate desicion-making. If the surgeon lacks any of this, he or she can harm the patient, and the damage might be permanent.

First, we talk them through the procedure. Patients are generally anxious when they come to our clinic, but when I tell them there will be no pain and that risks are minimal, they feel more comfortable. Half of the patient's worry disappears when he or she trusts the doctor.

For anesthesia, we use only one drop in each eye. We also offer sedative medication to patients just before the treatment.

Generally, patients are quite puzzled after the operation.

Some cannot belive that the treatment is complete. Others can't believe what they are seeing. Myopic patients, for example, are used to seeing objects that appear smaller than they actually are. When they see "right-sized" objects, they are both confused and happy.

Those who wore glasses for many years tell us they still look for their glasses when they wake up out of habit!