Bilateral Macular Protection Pigment and Lens Density Status in Recently Operated Unilateral Pseudophakic Patients

Abstract

Purpose : To confirm that the perimacular pigment blue light blocking effect is approximately the same whether measured through the natural crystalline lens or the recently placed intraocular lens in paired eyes. Secondarily, to confirm that the Alcon AcrySof SN60WF blue light blocking IOL is effective at blocking blue light as advertised.

Methods : Five patients, 52 years old or greater, all of whom had cataract extraction surgery with implantation of the SN60WF IOL in only one eye within the past year, were measured bilaterally on GUARDiON Health Sciences' MAPCATsf Densometer. The measurements taken on each eye included Macular Pigment Optical Density (MPOD) and Lens Optical Density (LOD). Percent Blue Light Blocking (%BLB) and Lens Equivalent Age (LEA) are also calculated as part of the measurements.

Results : Paired t-test between the paired phakic/pseudophakic eyes of the 5 patients yielded P values greater than 0.72 for each of the four measurements. 100% of the pseudophakic eyes had LEAs of 55 yrs or more. Average IOL LEA of the 5 patients was 75.8.

Conclusions : Measurement of the MPOD and %BLB yielded similar results whether measuring through the patient's natural crystalline lens or through the recently placed PCIOL. The LOD and LEA measured between the paired eyes also yielded similar results, demonstrating the blue light blocking characteristics of the Alcon AcrySof SN60WF to be comparable to the patient's natural crystalline lens, consistent with the implant’s commercial representation.

Nolan et. al used hetrochromatic flicker photometry (also used by MAPCATsf) to measure MPOD before and after cataract surgery and found there was no statistical difference in MPOD measurement of the patient through cataract opacity and blue-light blocking IOLs.

Our study confirms that MPOD can be measured through a natural crystalline lens or through a recently implanted SN60WF IOL and yield comparable results. Also confirmed is Alcon's claim of the SN60WF's blue-light blocking capabilities. These findings help support a larger scale study to determine whether blue-light blocking levels are diminished with older model non-blue-blocking IOLs in relation to the fellow phakic eye. With these preliminary assurances, we now intend to study whether MPOD decreases in the unilateral pseudophakic eye with non-blue-light blocking IOL over varying time periods versus the fellow eye that has remained phakic.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.