All About Cataracts

Abbott (Des Plaines, Ill.) announced last week it has received FDA approval for its new one-piece Tecnis Multifocal IOL for cataract patients with and without presbyopia.

Also, the new multifocal IOL has received “presbyopia-correcting IOL” status by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), giving Medicare beneficiaries the option to receive the Tecnis Multifocal IOL during cataract surgery for an additional fee to cover the extra cataract surgery cost.

“With this approval, Medicare cataract patients have a new opportunity to enjoy near, intermediate and distance vision without needing glasses,” said Jim Mazzo, senior vice president, Abbott Medical Optics (AMO) in a press release issued by the company on March 10.

According to the company, nearly 9 out of 10 patients undergoing cataract surgery and receiving the one-piece Tecnis Multifocal IOL in clinical trials reported never needing glasses after surgery.

Abbott has begun shipping the new multifocal IOL to cataract surgeons in select markets and plans for full commercial release beginning in April 2010.

More information about the new one-piece Tecnis Multifocal IOL, including important safety information, is available at www.abbottmedicaloptics.com.

Crystalens HD, an accommodating intraocular lens (IOL), is producing excellent visual outcomes and a high degree of independence from eyeglasses after cataract surgery, according to three European eye surgeons.

The surgeons presented their findings at the 2010 winter meeting of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, held in Budapest, Hungary, February 12-14.

Mark Tomalla, MD, of Duisburg, Germany, said he has implanted the Crystalens HD accommodating IOL in a series of 48 patients. At the time of his presentation, 17 of these patients had been been evaluated at a 6-month follow-up visit.

Six months after surgery:

• All patients could see clearly in the distance and at arm’s length without glasses.
• 71 percent reported they did not need reading glasses.
• The remaining 29 percent said they needed reading glasses only occasionally.

Angel Lopez-Castro, MD, reported similar results in his surgical implantation of the Crystalens HD after cataract removal in the eyes of 42 patients in Madrid, Spain. He said 80 percent of these patients achieved uncorrected reading vision of 20/25 or better, and all patients had distance vision of 20/20 or better without glasses.

Kristien Vanhoucke, MD, of Mol, Belgium, reported that 6 months after implanting the Crystalens HD in 26 eyes, 90 percent of these patients reported good vision at all distances and freedom from glasses after cataract surgery.

Crystalens HD is the fourth-generation accommodating IOL produced by Bausch & Lomb (Rochester, NY). The company received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2008 to market Crystalens HD in the United States.

In January 2010, Bausch & Lomb announced the introduction of Crystalens AO, its latest accommodating IOL that is designed to reduce higher-order aberrations for even sharper vision after cataract removal.

All Crystalens accommodating IOLs are premium intraocular lenses and therefore increase cataract surgery cost. Ask your cataract surgeon for details.

SOURCE: Multiple European clinics report promising accommodating IOL visual outcomes. Ocular Surgery News. Published online February 15, 2010.

Bausch & Lomb today announced the worldwide launch of a new accommodating intraocular lens (IOL) with aspheric optics for use in cataract surgery.

The new IOL, called Crystalens AO, is designed to be free of spherical aberration that affects other IOLs and thereby produce sharper vision after cataract surgery. The announcement follows recent FDA approval of the Crystalens AO for use by cataract surgeons in the United States.

The aspheric optical surfaces of Crystalens AO are designed to improve retinal image quality without compromising depth of field, and therefore the new IOL provides higher quality distance and intermediate vision than other IOLs, according to the company.

“The Crystalens AO has zero spherical aberration, and the combination of the Crystalens platform and AO optics work together to enhance depth of field,” says Andy Corley, president of Bausch & Lomb’s global surgical division in a press release issued today by the company.

The Crystalens AO is the latest addition to the Crystalens line of accommodating IOLs produced by Bausch & Lomb, joining the Crystalens HD and the Crystalens Five-O. Currently, Crystalens is the only brand of accommodating IOL that is FDA-approved for use in cataract surgery performed in the United States.

Unlike conventional IOLs, the optical portion of accommodating IOLs can move slightly within the eye in response to focusing effort, to improve not only distance vision, but intermediate and near vision as well, reducing the need for reading glasses after cataract surgery.

Accommodating IOLs are a premium intraocular lens and therefore will increase your cataract surgery cost.

More information about Crystalens accommodating IOLs is available on Bausch & Lomb’s Crystalens website or by calling the company at 1-877-SEE BETTER.