Multifocal versus monofocal correction of neonatal monocular aphakia

We compared the efficacy of monofocal and multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs) as a means of optically rehabilitating eyes with monocular congenital cataracts using a primate model. A congenital cataract was simulated in the right eye of 20 monkeys from birth to 2 weeks of age with an opalescent contact lens. A lensectomy was then performed and a monofocal IOL was implanted in 11 eyes and a multifocal IOL in 9 eyes. Any residual refractive error was then corrected with an extended-wear contact lens. The fellow eyes were then randomized to no treatment or 70% occlusion therapy. Grating acuity was assessed using forced-choice preferential looking with Teller acuity cards at regular intervals. At 32 weeks of age, the pseudophakic eyes were mildly amblyopic, but the grating acuities were not significantly different between the pseudophakic eyes with multifocal versus monofocal IOLs or between subjects who had received occlusion therapy versus no treatment of the fellow eye. We conclude that at least through 32 weeks of age, multifocal and monofocal IOLs are of similar efficacy and occlusion therapy may be less important to prevent amblyopia from developing in pseudophakic eyes compared to contact-lens corrected aphakic eyes.