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Surgeon: New IOL may provide high refractive accuracy
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MAUI, Hawaii — A silicone IOL now entering human testing may have the potential for highly precise refractive results following cataract surgery, according to a surgeon speaking here at Hawaii 2003: the Royal Hawaiian Eye Meeting.
Randall J. Olson, MD, said refractive cataract surgery has improved dramatically with improved biometry and the treatment of preoperative astigmatism. However, a significant minority remain who are unhappy with their refractive result, mainly due to inaccurate IOL power calculations.
According to Dr. Olson, a new light-adjusted IOL, or LAL (Calhoun Vision), has the potential to correct inadequate lens power and provide precise refractive results in cataract patients.
He explained the LAL is a silicone lens that uses unattached monomers that can be fashioned and attached to the underlying lens matrix using an appropriate amount of light.
Dr. Olson cited studies conducted by Nick Mamalis, MD, in Australia that showed the accuracy for spherical correction with the light-adjusted lens to be ± 0.1 D or better.
The lens is currently being developed for correction of sphere. However, Dr. Olson said cylindrical and multifocal corrections can also be performed and are potentially removable if the correction is not well tolerated.
Dr. Olson noted one drawback to using the lens is that once the lens receives its final adjustment the eye must be protected from significant amounts of light until the lens is locked to that adjustment. The patient will need to use sunglasses until the lens is locked, he said. Pupil size is also a consideration for lens use.
“You need good pupil dilation to see the lens,” he said. “You can’t put it in a small-pupil patient.”
Dr. Olson plans on presenting new data at this year’s ASCRS annual meeting.