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Younger patients achieve greater VA improvement with accommodative IOLs
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Better retinal function may explain why younger patients achieved better near vision than older patients after implantation with an accommodative IOL, according to Gerd Auffarth, MD, PhD.
“You can assume that at an average age of 39, these patients may be still capable of accommodating, [whereas] an 80-year-old may not have accommodated for quite a while,” he said. “The neurosensory pathways are still open and working.”
Dr. Auffarth implanted 43 patients in two age groups with the HumanOptics 1CU Akkommodative IOL after cataract extraction for either senile or secondary cataracts. The younger group achieved a mean uncorrected visual acuity for distance of 0.8, compared with 0.5 in the older group. In near visual acuity, the younger group achieved a mean of 0.5, compared with 0.2 in the older group. Accommodative amplitude ranged from 0.5 D to 1.25 D, with higher levels found in the younger patients. Bilateral implantation provided better results than unilateral, Dr. Auffarth added.
Dr. Auffarth performed only two YAG capsulotomies within 18 months of implantation, with no adverse effect on visual acuity, he said. While posterior capsular opacification and fibrosis were seen around the haptics, the center of the lens remained clear for most patients, he said.
For more on the lens and Dr. Auffarth’s implantation technique, see the August 15 print edition of Ocular Surgery News.