Implantable phakic contact lens: vault evaluation 5 years postoperatively.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Refractive Surgery
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Implantable phakic contact lenses (IPCL) offer refractive correction for myopia.
• Assessing long-term vault stability is crucial for patient outcomes.
• Understanding vault dynamics informs surgical technique and patient selection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the long-term (5-year) stability of the postoperative vault in eyes implanted with IPCL.
• To analyze the relationship between vault size and potential complications.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case-series study including 140 eyes of 72 myopic patients.
• Preoperative data were compared with vault measurements at 1, 3, and 5 years postoperatively.
• Vault stability and incidence of complications like cataracts and sulcus cysts were assessed.

Main Results:

• The vault remained stable in most eyes (78.6% between 250-750 μm) over 5 years.
• Eyes with vaults <250 μm showed 2 cases of subcapsular cataracts.
• A higher proportion of sulcus cysts (35.7%) was observed in eyes with vaults >750 μm.

Conclusions:

• IPCL vault demonstrates significant stability 5 years after implantation.
• Vault size may influence the risk of developing sulcus cysts.
• No adverse effects on intraocular pressure or endothelial cell count were noted.