Phakic IOL best option for low to moderate myopia correction

Considering its efficacy, safety, and advantages compared with laser vision correction procedures, Erik Mertens MD explained why phakic intraocular lens (IOL) implantation with the EVO+ Visian ICL (Staar) is the procedure of choice for correcting low to moderate myopia. “The EVO+ Visian ICL provides safe, effective, and predictable correction of low to moderate myopia,” Dr Mertens told delegates at yesterday’s ESCRS Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery symposium in Copenhagen yesterday. “Compared with laser vision correction procedures, ICL implantation is reversible, it provides superior quality of vision outcomes, has no dry eye issues, and leaves the cornea and lens unaltered. Therefore, later in life, patients needing cataract surgery will have predictable IOL calculations and high quality of vision,” said Dr Mertens, of Antwerp, Belgium. Dr Mertens acknowledged the criticisms that surround the phakic IOL. These include the potential for causing endophthalmitis. Addressing this issue, Dr Mertens cited a published survey of 95 surgeons who implanted 17,954 ICLs between 1998 and 2006 that found an endophthalmitis rate of just 0.0167% (three cases). Follow-up was available for two of the three cases showing both were treated successfully without loss of vision. Other criticisms that have been raised against the phakic IOL include the potential for induction of cataract and intraocular pressure elevation. However, Dr Mertens presented personal and published data mitigating these concerns. He also reviewed the evolution in technique and implant design that have led up to the current version of the ICL, and explained how those changes contribute to its excellent efficacy and safety outcomes.