Initial human experience with Permalens myopic hydrogel intracorneal lens implants

Previous nonhuman primate experimentation has demonstrated the successful use of Permalens hydrogel intracorneal lens implants for the correction of hyperopic and myopic refractive errors. This article documents the first human experience with myopic Permalens hydrogel intracorneal lens implants.

In this article, we report an 18-month follow up on five patients implanted with minus power hydrogel intracorneal lenses. All surgery and follow-up examinations were performed in Bogota, Columbia. The mean preoperative spherical refraction was -14.00 +/- 5.00 diopters (range, -9.5 to -19.00 D).

Corrections of up to 13.00 D were achieved. Corrections deviated from the predicted correction by a mean of -5.00 +/- 2.10 D (range, -2.80 to -8.00 D). No significant surgical or postoperative complications were noted. Visual recovery was rapid, usually achieving maximum acuity within 1 month.

Successful myopic refractive changes were accomplished in all five human subjects. The major problem with the study to date has been a significant undercorrection of the preoperative refraction. We anticipate that further empirically derived relationships between hydrogel lens power and refractive change will allow a more accurate prediction of refractive result. Also, the ability to surgically interchange myopic hydrogel inlays should allow correction of any residual refractive errors.