Reading performance and patient satisfaction after corneal inlay implantation for presbyopia correction: two-year...

To evaluate change in reading performance parameters after monocular Kamra corneal inlay implantation for the surgical correction of presbyopia.

University surgical outpatient center.

Prospective interventional case series.

A corneal inlay was implanted in the nondominant eye. Naturally emmetropic and presbyopic patients between 45 years and 60 years old with an uncorrected distance visual acuity of at least 20/20 in both eyes without additional ocular pathology were eligible for inclusion. Bilateral uncorrected reading acuity, reading distance, mean and maximum reading speed, and the smallest log-scaled print size (lower case letter of a Radner reading chart) were evaluated using the Salzburg Reading Desk. The minimum postoperative follow-up was 24 months.

Twenty-four patients were enrolled. The mean reading distance was 46.7 cm ± 6.3 (SD) preoperatively and 39.5 ± 6.4 cm 24 months postoperatively (P<.001). The mean reading acuity at best distance improved (0.33 ± 0.13 logRAD versus 0.23 ± 0.11 logRAD) (P=.004). The mean reading speed increased from 141 ± 20 words per minute (wpm) to 146 ± 20 wpm, respectively (P=.261), and the mean maximum reading speed from 171 ± 28 wpm to 180 ± 22 wpm, respectively (P=.110). The smallest print size improved from 1.50 ± 0.42 mm to 1.01 ± 0.22 mm, respectively (P<.001).

Improving the depth of focus by monocular implantation of a small-aperture optic caused statistically significant changes in all tested reading performance parameters except reading speed metrics in emmetropic presbyopic patients.