Managing Irregular Corneal Astigmatism and Pseudophakic Presbyopia With Novel Small-Aperture Intraocular Implant
Narrative Responses:
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the initial results of a novel small aperture intraocular implant. It acts as an intraocular pinhole, improving vision in cases of irregular corneal astigmatism and extending depth of focus of normal pseudophakic eyes.
Methods
For this pilot study we enrolled 3 pseudophakic patients with poor vision caused by irregular corneal astigmatism secondary to previous corneal surgeries (RK and PK) and 3 other patients complaining of poor near vision after cataract surgery. A small aperture device, made of black acrylic, was implanted in the Ciliary sulcus of these patients. The implant material is transparent to infrared light, which allows fundus imaging after implantation. Uncorrected and best corrected distance, intermediate and near visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and visual field examination were assessed 1 week and 1 month postoperatively. Patient satisfaction was evaluated with a subjective questionnaire.
Results
Ciliary sulcus implantation of this novel device was uneventful, with significant improvement of visual function. There were no signs of complications, with high patient satisfaction in all cases.
Conclusion
This novel intraocular implant significantly improved vision of patients with irregular corneal astigmatism. Also, it was able to extend depth of focus of monofocal pseudophakic eyes, thus improving uncorrected intermediate and near visual acuity without any significant compromise in optical quality.