IOL removal most often necessitated by retinal detachment, endophthalmitis

NICE, France — The most frequent reason for IOL explantation was to allow better visualization during retinal detachment surgery in a retrospective study presented here. Endophthalmitis was the second-leading cause, according to a presentation here by Gøril Boberg-Ans, MD.

Researchers with Herlev University Hospital in Denmark analyzed 44 patients who had 46 IOLs explanted over a 4-year period.

“We found that retinal detachment was the most frequent indication for explantation, with 18 of 46 IOLs removed for this reason,” Dr. Boberg-Ans reported here at the meeting of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. In the majority of cases, retinal detachment was caused by some serious eye illness.

Dr. Boberg-Ans reported that serious eye illnesses were evident in 28 of the eyes of patients who required IOL explantation for various reasons. The remainder of patients who required IOL removal experienced complicated cataract surgery prior to explantation.

“The rest of patients who were in need of explantation had developed endophthalmitis — the second most frequent complication,” Dr. Boberg-Ans said.

In her study, 11 of the eyes experienced a visual loss during follow-up; the loss ranged from one line to loss of light perception. Of the remaining eyes, 14 had no change in visual acuity and 20 eyes gained visual acuity. Dr. Boberg-Ans noted that explantation is still a rare procedure and should only be carried out in vision-threatening situations.