Tissue toxicity of laser-damaged intraocular lens implants

Because of close proximity to the posterior capsule, the posterior chamber intraocular lens is frequently damaged when capsulotomy is performed using the Nd:YAG laser. Damage to the optic or haptics of an intraocular lens may release substances potentially toxic to intraocular tissues. We found that injection molded intraocular lenses experimentally damaged using multiple YAG laser burst at energy levels of 10 mJ or greater released compounds which caused cell death to cultures of human conjunctival epithelial cells, retinal pigment epithelial cells, choroidal cells, and retinoblastoma cells. No cytotoxic effect was seen at energy levels of 2 and 5 mJ.