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Kelman lecturer finds ways to compensate for weak zonules
 David F. Chang |
ORLANDO, Fla. — David F. Chang, MD, detailed ways to manage lack of tension when performing cataract surgery in eyes with weak zonules during the Charles D. Kelman Lecture here.
"The capsulorrhexis is your zonule stress test," Dr. Chang said at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. "That's when you really know for the first time just how weak the zonules are."
In cases of weak zonules, one way to support the capsular bag is to use capsular retractors.
"They fixate the bag to the wall, so I have rotational stability, and I can turn the nucleus. They support the bag in the [anteroposterior] direction, unlike a capsule tension ring," he said.
When working in the periphery, Dr. Chang said the retractors keep the equator of the bag from being aspirated by the phaco tip.
"And finally, they don't trap the cortex the way that the [capsular tension ring] did," he said.
"The Challenge of Weak Zonules" is a master class available as a video on the AAO website.
- Disclosure: Dr. Chang has no financial disclosures in the instruments discussed in his presentation.