Correction of high astigmatism in cataract patients with a toric IOL with a Z-haptic

Nowadays, eliminating visually significant preexisting astigmatism at the time of cataract surgery has become a key factor for a successful outcome. The advent of toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) has been a major breakthrough in refractive correction because it offers the possibility of correcting pre-existing corneal astigmatism and spherical refractive errors during cataract surgery with only slight adjustments in technique. It has been estimated that approximately 22% of cataract patients have corneal astigmatism of 1.5 D or higher and would benefit from toric IOL implantation.¹ Many manufacturers now supply toric IOLs.² However, options for treating patients with very high spherocylindrical errors are still limited.

Our study

Patients were observed 1 day, 1 week, 1, 3 and ≥6 months (range 6 to 18 months) after surgery. Monocular distance uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), refraction, keratometry and IOL alignment were recorded at each follow-up visit.