*Acri.Lisa good for distance, near and sufficient for intermediate acuity

The new *Acri.Lisa (*Acri.Tec) bifocal, acrylic IOL provides very good distance and near visual acuity and sufficient intermediate visual acuity, said Ulrich Mester. Pseudoaccommodation range is 5.5 D and it also offers improved contrast sensitivity. He noted, however, that halos are still present with the lens.

Dr Mester's study included 40 eyes in 20 patients, with a mean age of 68 (±10) years. Implanted IOL power mean was 21.6 D (range: 17.5 to 25.5D) and follow-up was mean six (± 2) weeks.

Exclusion criteria included oculus ultimus, amblyopia, strabismus, glaucoma, macular diseases, previous operations and diabetes mellitus. Astigmatism greater than 1.5 D was also excluded.

The results showed better outcomes for uncorrected distance, best corrected distance and uncorrected near vision when both eyes are implanted with the *Acri.Lisa lens.

For halos, four of the 20 patients had no halos while 16 out of 20 had minimal halos but these disappeared over time.

LISA is an acronym and stands for light, independence, smooth steps and aberration correcting. Light distribution offers 65% far and 35% near in both eyes. The IOL is independent of pupil size and there are smooth steps in the refractive diffractive (RD) structure with RD design over the complete optic diameter of 6 mm.

"The light distribution guarantees sufficient distance acuity and 35% light in the near range is sufficient for normal activities. When required, with poor illumination for example, reading spectacles could be used," observed Dr Mester.

Ophthalmology Times Europe reporting from the XXIV Congress of the ESCRS, London, 9-13 September, 2006.