Outcomes of bilateral implantation of phakic IOLs

It has been previously reported by Drs Marco and Giuseppe Lombardo that analysis of wavefront aberrations can be used in determining the optical quality and visual performance of the eye.¹ On reading this study Dr Antonio Toso of the St Bassiano Hospital in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, realised that young, highly myopic patients suffer from poor distance vision, mainly in mesopic conditions. This is a result of positive spherical aberration, which becomes the dominant high order aberration in degrading optical quality when the pupils dilate. Dr Toso decided that he would like to understand whether the AcrySof Cachet phakic IOL (pIOL) from Alcon Laboratories would be able to provide a better quality of distance vision.

In collaboration with Dr Simonetta Morselli, Dr Toso examined the visual outcomes and aberrometry in a group of eight patients who had undergone bilateral implantation with the Acrysof Cachet pIOL. The results of this study were presented at the 2010 ESCRS Meeting held in Paris.

Lens selection

Dr Toso revealed that the lens was very easy to implant and he explained: "The design and softness of the haptics do not cause pupil ovalisation and conform to the shape of the angle very well." Additionally, he found it beneficial that the lens has been made of the same soft and flexible hydrophobic acrylic material as the other AcrySof IOLs. "Besides all of this, the water-tight corneal incision (no more than 2.6 mm) and not being required to perform peripheral iridotomy, convinced me of the advantages of this lens," he continued.