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Comparison of flange creation in three-piece intraocular lenses between high- and low-temperature cautery
Martin Kronschläger1, Stéphane Blouin2, Johannes Zeilinger3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Vienna Institute for Research in Ocular Surgery (VIROS), a Karl Landsteiner Institute, Hanusch Hospital, Heinrich Collin Strasse 30, Vienna, 1140, Austria. martin.kronschlaeger@gmx.at.
Background:
To compare flange creation using high- vs. low-temperature cautery for three piece intraocular lenses (IOLs) with PMMA and PVDF haptics.
Methods:
The ends of the haptics from ten three-piece IOLs with PMMA haptics (AR40, Johnson & Johnson, USA) and ten three-piece IOLs with PVDF haptics (PU6AS, KOWA, Japan) were each heated for 1 mm to form a flange-using low-temperature cautery (593 °C) on the ipsilateral haptic and high-temperature cautery (1205 °C) on the contralateral haptic. Flange size, shape, and formation time were analysed.
Results:
There were no differences in flange shape and flange size between high- and low-temperature cautery for each haptic type (p > 0.05). Average flange size of the AR40 IOL and the PU6AS IOL were 422 ± 22 μm and 363 ± 14 μm, respectively. Haptic diameter were 172 ± 5 μm and 126 ± 3 μm, respectively. The shape of the AR40 IOL flange was conic and the shape of the PU6AS IOL flange was mushroom-like, independent of cautery temperature. Flange formation time was 1.7 ± 0.6 s with the high-temperature cautery and 3.7 ± 0.6 s with the low-temperature cautery, regardless of the haptic material.
Conclusions:
Flange size and shape in PMMA and PVDF haptics are independent of low- and high-temperature cautery. However, the extended flange formation time associated with low-temperature cautery may allow for greater control during flange creation.

