Implantable Contact Lens
Found Safe, Effective

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A contact lens that is implanted permanently in the eye is safe and effective for treating nearsightedness, according to data presented Tuesday at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The device is intended to be an alternative for laser operations that correct nearsightedness by reshaping the cornea, the clear outer covering of the eyeball, Dr. John Allan Vukich of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison told Reuters Health.

Vukich and colleagues analyzed the results of a multicenter trial of patients who had received the implantable lens, known as STAAR ICL and made by STAAR Surgical Inc. of Monrovia, California.

One-year follow-up data was available for 429 eyes implanted with the contact lens. Vukich reported that 45% of the implanted eyes had visual acuity of 20/20 or better, and 84% had visual acuity of 20/40 or better.

Two-year data was available for an additional 158 eyes. ''Only one patient (0.2%) lost more than two lines of visual acuity and 9.1% of patients gained two or more lines of best corrected acuity,'' Vukich said. Of the patients who had corrected vision of 20/20 or better before surgery, about 59% were able to see 20/20 or better with the implant and 92% could see 20/40 or better, he added.

In its current form, Vukich noted, the lens does not correct astigmatism, which is blurry vision caused by an irregular curvature of the cornea.

``Potential complications (from the implantable contact lens) are quite unusual,'' Vukich said, ``but most complications have had complete resolution.'' After 2 years of follow up, his team reports, three lenses were removed--one due to cataract development, one because of a lens misfit and one due to surgical trauma.

More than 98% of patients report ``being moderately to extremely satisfied with their visual acuity'' one year after having the lens implanted, Vukich said.

``The implantable contact lens corrects a range of nearsightedness for which there is no other alternative,'' Vukich told Reuters Health. This procedure offers an effective and safe alternative to corneal laser correction, he added, ``at a much broader range of correction.''

The implanted lens will be more expensive than laser eye surgery, Vukich and colleagues note, and further study is needed of the occurrence of cataract in one patient.

Vukich has a financial stake in the STAAR contact lens, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Reference Source 89

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