Customized presbyopic correction for adjustable lens provides encouraging results

H. Burkhard Dick

PARIS — The customized near add procedure for presbyopic correction with the Light Adjustable Lens is proving effective in early trials, according to one speaker here.

H. Burkhard Dick, MD, started using the Light Adjustable Lens (LAL; Calhoun Vision) in 2008 and has so far implanted it in more than 350 eyes.

"I have obtained very good, stable refractive results with this lens, with a low deviation from target refraction. Ninety-eight percent of the eyes were within 0.25 D of intended correction, and we were able to individually address [higher-order aberrations] and asphericity," he said at the meeting of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

According to Dr. Dick, there are promising future options for this lens, including multifocal and toric adjustments. The customized near add approach for presbyopia has already proved successful.

"We 'write' a small add zone in the central part of the LAL, while not modifying the power outside that region. This zone is centered on the visual axis and is customized in power and size based on the photopic pupil size as well as on the Stiles-Crawford effect," he explained.

Outcomes of customized near add in Dr. Dick's preliminary series of five patients have been "extremely encouraging."

"Post-treatment, distance vision was 20/25 or better and near vision J2 or better. Four months post-lock-in it had further improved, with all patients achieving 20/16 at distance and J1 at near," he said.