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Lindstrom: The future of presbyopic correction lies in IOLs, intracorneal lenses
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SAN FRANCISCO — Presbyopia will be the primary challenge for refractive surgeons as the baby boomer generation ages, said Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, delivering the Binkhorst Lecture here at the opening session of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
“If you are looking for a handicap to overcome, this is certainly one that presents a tremendous opportunity,” said Dr. Lindstrom here, noting that currently 51% of the U.S. population is presbyopic. “Perhaps as many as 68 million potential surgical eyes could be treated if we had an effective, safe therapy.”
To date, options for presbyopia correction have included reading or bifocal glasses, monovision or bifocal contact lenses. Surgical options, used much less frequently, include monovision conductive keratoplasty or LASIK, multifocal IOLs and accommodating IOLs, said Dr. Lindstrom, the chief medical editor of Ocular Surgery News.
“But surgical correction of presbyopia is clearly in its early years,” he said.
Noting that no surgical procedure or device is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of presbyopia, Dr. Lindstrom presented a group of selected IOLs and intracorneal lenses that are under investigation or in development which he personally had a hand in developing or investigating.
“Correction with multifocal IOLs is now giving good results in properly selected patients. In the U.S., the most rapidly growing refractive procedure today is refractive lensectomy, … and I see significant growth there,” Dr. Lindstrom said. “We are going to see explosive development of accommodating IOLs, new technology IOLs like adjustable IOLs, as well as corneal inlays that are going to expand our options significantly in this area of treatment for presbyopia.”
A more complete version of Dr. Lindstrom’s addresss, including discussion of all the IOLs and intracorneal lenses presented in his Binkhorst Lecture, “Correction of presbyopia with intraocular and intracorneal lenses: a surgeon’s perspective,” will appear in the May 15 issue of Ocular Surgery News.