Correcting high astigmatism with piggyback toric intraocular lens implantation

An 86-year-old man presented for cataract surgery with corneal astigmatism of 5.12 diopters (D). After cataract extraction with small-incision techniques, 2 toric plate-haptic silicone intraocular lenses (IOLs) were implanted in the capsular bag, each with a 3.50 D cylinder add (2.30 D at the spectacle plane). Six weeks postoperatively, corneal astigmatism was 3.38 D at 70 degrees and refractive astigmatism was 1.00 D at 20 degrees. Uncorrected visual acuity was 20/40. No IOL rotation was observed. Implantation of piggybacked toric lenses may be a viable option for correcting moderate to high astigmatism. (C) 2002 ASCRS and ESCRS.