New technologies fail to deliver

Professor Rudy MMA Nuijts MD Many of the new technologies for improving visual outcomes have failed to deliver on their promises, said Professor Rudy MMA Nuijts MD, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands, at the 24^th ESCRS Winter Meeting in Marrakech, Morocco. He noted, for example, that although digital marking of anatomical landmarks for toric IOLs does result in significantly less misalignment of the lens compared to manual marking, the improved accuracy does not translate to significantly better uncorrected distance visual acuity. It may improve workflow somewhat. Intraoperative aberrometry, for its part, improves accuracy of spherical power estimation in post-refractive surgery patients compared to SRKT formulas. However, studies comparing the technology’s prediction of residual astigmatism after toric IOL implantation with modern toric IOL power calculation formulas have yielded contradictory results, he said. He noted that part of the reason for the failure of the newer technologies to improve visual outcomes in astigmatic eyes may lie in the tendency of IOLs to rotate postoperatively. He cited a study that showed that between the completion of surgery, with patient still on the table, and one hour postoperatively, IOLs rotated by a mean of 5.11 degrees with a range of 0.28 degrees to 18.77 degrees.

Tags: toric IOLs, ESCRS Marrakech 2020