This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Phakic IOLs safer at 4 years than lens exchange in young high myopes

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

In highly myopic eyes of young patients, phakic IOL implantation carried a lower risk of best corrected visual acuity loss than refractive lens exchange at 4 years’ follow-up, according to a French study.

Jean L. Arne, MD, of Toulouse, compared the two refractive procedures in 39 patients ranging in age from 32 to 49. In his study, 41 eyes of 21 patients received a phakic IOL, and 36 eyes of 18 patients underwent phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. The mean preop refraction was –13.6 D in the phakic IOL group and –16.7 D in the refractive lens exchange (RLE) group.

At 12 months postop, the BCVA had improved in 78% of the eyes in the phakic IOL group and in 83.3% of the eyes in the RLE group. In three eyes in the phakic IOL group, opacification of the crystalline lens developed between 2 and 4 years after implantation. Visual recovery after phaco was “excellent,” Dr. Arne said. No eye in the IOL group lost one or more lines of BCVA between 1 and 4 years of the initial surgery.

In the RLE group, retinal detachment occurred in two eyes at 39 and 43 months. In those eyes, final visual acuity was counting fingers and 20/200.

The study is published in the October issue of Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.