Laser Eye Surgery to Be Demonstrated Live Online

Eye surgeon David Shapiro has a hard time making LASIK--short for Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis, an advanced form of laser eye surgery--sound appealing to would-be recipients.

With advancements in medical technology, the corrective vision technique is relatively simple, he said, but until clients view or experience the procedure firsthand, they are hard to convince.

“Many people are thrilled with the results of the surgery, and they tell me, if only they had known how easy it was, that they would have done it a long time ago,” said Shapiro, who specializes in laser eye surgery through his home office in Ventura and satellite offices in San Luis Obispo and Long Beach.

To demonstrate the technique to as many people as possible, Shapiro will perform the operation on KHAY-FM (100.7) radio personality Charlye Parker live on the Internet beginning at 6 p.m. today. The airing, which will follow Parker through preparation, the three-minute surgery itself and post-surgery, will be conducted at the Freedom Vision Laser Center in Encino.

“When the laser procedure is performed, I view it through a microscope, and it is also displayed on a live monitor for the patient’s family and others to see,” Shapiro said. “We are going to take that cable lead that’s going into the monitor and put it directly into the Internet.”

As with any surgery, there is some risk to the LASIK procedure, but Shapiro said it is minimal.

“It’s statistically possible to go blind with this surgery,” he said. “But that could happen with a contact lens. The way to go blind through LASIK is through infection. There have been cases of infection, but no blindness.”

Shapiro said he has performed the laser technique about 1,000 times and has had no serious complications.

“It’s very low risk, because it’s truly an external procedure,” he said. “Should something go wrong, there should be some kind of intervention possible to correct the problem.”

With the LASIK procedure, doctors are able to improve eyesight in patients by sculpting corneal tissue. The technique allows practitioners to lift and replace a surface membrane from the cornea, which increases the accuracy, speed and comfort of the procedure, Shapiro said.

The cost of the surgery is $2,250 per eye, which includes a year of follow-up care and medication.

“The number of people undergoing this is expanding exponentially--we expect 500,000 [patients] in 1999,” Shapiro said. “Many [doctors] feel it will become a rite of passage, like having braces.”

The surgery may be viewed at https://www.shapirorklaser.com, the Shapiro RK & Laser Center’s Web site.