If you have had cataract surgery, should you worry about your intraocular lenses eventually dislocating?
To answer this question, researchers at the Mayo Clinic checked the records of all residents of Olmsted County, Minn., who had undergone cataract extraction from Jan. 1, 1980 through May 31, 2009. In the 14,471 cataract cases studied, 16 cases of late posterior chamber IOL dislocation were identified.
The researchers calculated that at five, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years after cataract surgery, the cumulative risk of IOL dislocation was low, at 0.1%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.7%, and 1.7%, respectively. And the risk did not change much over the three-decade study period.
They also found that pseudoexfoliation and zonular laxity at surgery were significantly correlated with late IOL dislocation. (Pseudoexfoliation involves fluffy material appearing on the lens capsule; it can weaken the zonules, which are fibers that hold in place the chamber containing the cataract and later the intraocular lens. This weakness is called zonular laxity.)
The study report was published online in the American Journal of Ophthalmology on June 17.
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Bausch & Lomb announced today that the “See Better and Save” rebate program will now run through March 31, 2011, two months later than the previous deadline. Patients who have the Crystalens accommodating intraocular lens implanted before the deadline can be eligible for a $250 rebate per eye.
Crystalens currently is the only FDA-approved accommodating intraocular lens. The lens provides sharper vision at multiple distances in addition to removing the cataract.
The company stated that the rebate program has been a success because it makes Crystalens a more accessible option for baby boomers. The rebate is available to patients regardless of physician, hospital or surgical center.
More information about Crystalens and the “See Better and Save” rebate program can be found at Crystalens.com.
ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — Bausch & Lomb today announced a new program called “See Better and Save” that enables cataract patients who have the Crystalens intraocular lens (IOL) implanted between November 1, 2010, and January 31, 2011, to be eligible for a rebate of up to $250 per eye.
The Bausch & Lomb Crystalens intraocular lens.
The company made the official announcement of the rebate program during the 2010 annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Chicago.
Crystalens currently is the only FDA-approved accommodating intraocular lens. Unlike standard IOLs implanted in cataract surgery, Crystalens is designed to give patients a more natural range of vision, reducing the need for glasses after surgery.
“Crystalens has changed the field of vision correction. The See Better and Save program is another step in our effort to bring quality vision correction to the dynamic market of baby boomers and aging seniors,” said Robert E. Grant, president and CEO of Bausch & Lomb Surgical.
Bausch & Lomb also recently launched a new website — CataractEducation.com — to educate the estimated 20 million aging American baby boomers and seniors who are currently living with cataracts. The website describes how cataracts are treated and discusses the importance of visiting an eye doctor regularly.
More information about Bausch & Lomb’s Crystalens accommodating IOLs can be found at Crystalens.com or by calling 1-877-7SEEBETTER.
Implantation of a popular multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) during cataract surgery provides clear and stable visual acuity — both for distance vision tasks such as driving and for near vision tasks such as computer work and reading.
Tecnis Multifocal IOL (Image: Abbott Medical Optics)
That’s the finding of a new study published this month in Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Researchers in Japan conducted a retrospective study of 72 eyes (of 41 patients) that were implanted with the Array Multifocal IOL (Abbott Medical Optics, Santa Ana, Calif.) after cataract extraction.
The mean age of patients in the study was 48.7 years (range: 18 to 71 years) and all participants were followed for a period of four years after surgery.
Among the results:
- At one month after surgery, mean uncorrected distance visual acuity (VA) was between 20/20 and 20/25, and mean uncorrected near VA was between 20/30 and 20/40.
- Visual acuity remained stable for the four-year study period, but patient satisfaction with near vision decreased at two years after surgery.
- A follow-up laser eye surgery — laser capsulotomy — was performed on 48 eyes (66.7 percent) due to formation of posterior capsular opacification (PCO).
PCO is a clouding of the posterior portion of the lens capsule — the normally clear sac-like structure that holds the eye’s natural lens in place — that is intentionally left in place during cataract removal to prevent certain cataract surgery complications.
Laser capsulotomy is a brief outpatient procedure that uses a special laser (called an Nd:YAG laser) to create a central opening in the lens capsule to restore vision.
The mean time for laser capsulotomy surgery was approximately two years after cataract surgery.
The researchers concluded that the Array Multifocal IOL provided good and stable distance and near visual acuities over the four-year follow-up, despite a significant percentage of eyes receiving the lens implant experiencing posterior capsule opacification that affected near vision and required subsequent surgical treatment.
Ed. note: The Array Multifocal IOL, which was the first FDA-approved multifocal IOL, is no longer available. Abbott Medical Optics has replaced the Array IOL with two new multifocal IOLs: the ReZoom and Tecnis Multifocal IOL. Ask your cataract surgeon for details.
