Evaluation of calcification of a hydrogel intraocular lens by optical coherence tomography

We describe 2 cases of calcification of hydrogel intraocular lenses (IOLs) evaluated by optical coherence tomography. Dense or slight surface opacities of hydrogel IOLs were detected initially by slitlamp biomicroscopy in a 55-year-old woman and a 77-year-old woman. The opacities resulted in complaints of hazy vision after uneventful phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. Optical coherence tomography was used to further assess the opacities and showed calcification by high reflectivity on the anterior and posterior IOL surfaces in the first patient and on the anterior surface in the second patient. No abnormal reflectivity was seen on the surface of a hydrophobic acrylic IOL in the second patient's fellow eye. Optical coherence tomography may be useful to detect calcification of a hydrogel IOL.