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Femtosecond laser cataract surgery could be effective in difficult cases
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BERLIN — Femtosecond laser cataract surgery could make cases, such as those with traumatic cataracts, dislocated lenses and zonular dehiscence, safer to perform with faster phacoemulsification at a reduced power, a physician said here.
 Stephen G. Slade |
Other cases that would benefit from femtosecond laser cataract surgery could be pseudoexfoliation, thickened or scarred capsules, and white cataracts, Stephen G. Slade, MD, FACS, said.
Speaking at the World Ophthalmology Congress, Dr. Slade discussed his initial experience with the LenSx femtosecond laser (LenSx Lasers). Using the femtosecond laser at his practice, he sought to answer "is cataract surgery effective enough?" for refractive outcomes and safety by performing cataract surgery with implantation of the Crystalens (Bausch + Lomb).
He presented results of his first 20 patients at 1 day postop, with the majority of patients having 20/30 or better best corrected visual acuity.
"[LenSx] basically does two-and-a-half of your current five steps. It does your incisions, it does the capsulorrhexis, and it can do about half of the work that you would do during the capsulotomy," Dr. Slade said. "How can we make this safer? If you are doing a perfect capsulotomy every time, you're controlling your incisions, and if you're reducing your phaco time, then indeed, you might wind up with a safer [procedure]."
The promise of femtosecond laser cataract surgery is a dramatic increase in the accuracy, safety, and reproducibility of all the corneal and capsular incisions required to take out a cataract (or clear lens). The image-guided femtosecond laser aims to correct pre-existing and surgically induced astigmatism, precisely open the anterior capsule and atraumatically prepare the lens for aspiration. The result of a single, rapid application of femtosecond laser energy is an eye fully prepared to disgorge its presbyopic or cataractous crystalline lens and ready to receive a next-generation accommodative IOL or futuristic flexible, injectable polymeric lens replacement.
– Mark Packer, MD, FACS
Drs. Fine,
Hoffman & Packer, Eugene, Ore.
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