Effect of optic edge design and haptic angulation on postoperative intraocular lens position change

To assess the effect of optic edge design and optic-haptic angulation of open-loop intraocular lenses (IOLs) on postoperative axial movement and the final position of the optic by measuring the anterior chamber depth (ACD) during the first postoperative year using partial coherence interferometry (PCI).

Department of Ophthalmology, Vienna General Hospital, Institute of Medical Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

In study 1, a 3-piece silicone IOL with nonangulated modified C-loop haptics (MicroSil, Dr. Schmidt) was implanted in 78 eyes of 39 patients; patients were randomized to receive a round-edged optic IOL in 1 eye and a sharp-edged optic IOL in the other eye. The ACD was measured by PCI 1 day, 1 week, 3 months, and 1 year after surgery. In study 2, a foldable, 3-piece acrylic IOL with modified 10-degree angulated J-loop haptics (AcrySof MA60BM, Alcon) was implanted in 32 eyes of 32 patients. The ACD was measured by PCI 1 day, 1 week, and 3 months after surgery.

In eyes with a nonangulated silicone IOL, there was a significant postoperative change in ACD with both sharp-edged and round-edged designs (P<.01). There was forward movement of both IOL designs in the first week, with no significant difference between the 2 models. From 1 week to 3 months, there was backward movement of IOLs of both designs, with the sharp-edged IOL moving a significantly greater amount (P<.001). From 3 months to 1 year, IOLs with both optic edge designs moved slightly backward. Sixty-six percent of angulated IOLs showed continuous but variable forward movement and 34%, backward movement.

Optic edge design influenced postoperative axial optic movement and thus had an impact on the development of postoperative refraction (refractive shift, deviation from target refraction). The influence of optic-haptic angulation proved to be significantly greater and more variable than edge design.