Liliana Werner, MD, PhD

VIENNA — In this Healio Video Perspective from the ESCRS meeting, Liliana Werner, MD, PhD, speaks about the Perfect Lens project.

Posterior capsule opacification is the most common complication of cataract surgery with IOL implantation. Lens epithelial cell proliferation and migration are the key pathogenesis of PCO as well as anterior capsule opacification. While we are already experiencing a significant decline in the incidence of PCO, we continue to learn more about the importance of IOL shape and material and the role they play in the prevention of lens epithelial cell migration.

A solution is in development that combines an ophthalmic viscosurgical device with lidocaine. This combination agent would not only eliminate the necessity of extra surgical steps for intracameral injection of lidocaine during intraocular surgery, but it would also help maintain the anesthetic effect longer.

Recently performed analyses of explanted silicone IOLs led to the conclusion that environmental factors in storage areas may be responsible for changes in IOLs, leading to their opacification shortly after implantation. This work, which I presented at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting in San Diego, was done in collaboration with Fabio Dornelles, MD, Christiana Hilgert, MD, Fernando Botelho, MD, Paulo Conte, MD, from Brazil, and with Nick Mamalis, MD, and Randall J. Olson, MD, from the John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah.