DECENTRATION OF THE POSTERIOR CHAMBER LENS IMPLANT - THE EFFECT OF OPTIC SIZE ON THE INCIDENCE OF VISUAL ABERRATIONS

Intraocular lens implant components such as dialling holes can cause disabling symptoms when decentration of the implant places these components in the pupil. In order to investigate the importance of optic size in this context, we studied two groups of consecutive patients who had undergone cataract surgery: One group had received an implant with a 6 mm diameter optic, and the other an implant with a 7 mm diameter optic. We found that there was a significantly higher incidence of implant components such as dialling holes in the pupil in the 6 mm group when compared to the 7 mm group. The incidence of symptoms such as monocular diplopia and glare was marginally but not significantly higher in the 6 mm group. To minimise the risks of symptoms related to dialling holes in the pupil we recommend an implant design that has a large optical clear zone of at least 6 mm. © 1989, College of Ophthalmologists. All right reserved.