Visual and accommodative outcomes 1 year after implantation of an accommodating intraocular lens based on a new concept

PURPOSE: To evaluate visual outcomes and accommodative gains 1 year after implantation of the NuLens accommodating intraocular lens (IOL). SETTING: Department of Refractive Surgery, Vissum Corp., Alicante, Spain. METHODS: This study comprised patients with cataract and atrophic macular degeneration. In each patient, the accommodating IOL was implanted in the eye with the worse visual acuity. At the 12-month follow-up visit, visual acuity and accommodation were measured to determine the efficacy of the IOL. Ultrasound biomicroscopy was used to measure accommodative amplitude. RESULTS: Ten eyes of 10 patients were evaluated. The mean number of lines patients could read increased from 1.0 preoperatively to 3.8 lines 6 months postoperatively, indicating improvement in uncorrected near visual acuity after IOL implantation. The mean change in cross-section measurements of the IOL was 0.06 mm at 1 month; the value peaked at 3 months (0.21 mm), after which it decreased steadily, becoming stable at 9 months (0.09 mm, which is equivalent to 10.00 diopters [D] of accommodation). Corrected near visual acuity improved slightly (0.7 Jaeger lines) at 12 months, with the best reading distance at 10 cm. These results suggest that the near and distance visual acuities were approximately equal and, therefore, the IOL can produce accommodation of 10.00 D. CONCLUSIONS: The accommodation mechanism of the IOL can produce an ocular power variation of 10.00 D. Near visual acuity improved without compromising distance visual acuity.