Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate change in Accommodative Range (AR) and Uncorrected Near Visual Acuity (UCNVA) in emmetropic, presbyopic patients after unilateral implantation of the Acufocus© ACI 7000 corneal inlay (ACI).Methods and patients: 9 eyes of 9 test subjects were compared pre- and 6 months postoperatively after Implantation of the ACI, a 5-10µm thin, microperforated artificial aperture to restore Near Visual Acuity in presbyopic patients, which is implanted in the Cornea after creating a Pocket in about 320µm depth with a Femtosecond Laser. All subjects (4 female, 5 male) were at the time of surgery between 48 and 60 years of age (mean 55), the surgery was performed without complications in all patients. The UCNVA was measured by a common method (Optec© 6500P Vision Tester), for the accommodative range a double-pass system (OQAS II©) was used. Unilateral measurements were performed preoperatively and 6 months after surgery. Amplitude of accommodation in the OQAS II instrument is defined as the range with image quality value 50% of the maximum (for best focus) or smaller when analyzing the retinal image during the accommodation test target.
Results: :
We observed a mean AR of 0,9+0,4 diopters preoperatively (range 0,5 to 1,5), which improved 6 months after surgery to a mean of 2,6+0,7 diopters (range 1,25 to 3,5). Every single patient improved within this period. At the same time period the UCNVA (ETDRS Near Vision Chart)changed from 23 out of 60 possible optotypes (20/63 Snellen-equivalent) preoperatively to 40 (20/32 Snellen-equivalent) 6 months later.
Conclusions: :
The ACI seems to be an effective method for a significant improvement of the AR as well as the UCNVA after unilateral implantation in emmetropic presbyopic patients.Further studies with a higher number of tested patients are necessary to evaluate the results achieved with the OQAS II in this patient group.
Keywords: accomodation • presbyopia • refractive surgery