Eyeworld

107 EW FEATURE March 2015 Refractive options by Lauren Lipuma EyeWorld Staff Writer Because some patients with healthy retinas may go on to de- velop retinal pathology following surgery, it is vital to assess risk for With new multifocal IOL technology poised to enter the U.S. market, experienced surgeons discuss best practices for implantation M ultifocal IOLs have the potential to give patients spectacle independence after cat- aract surgery, but the difficulty in adapting to multifocal- ity makes the lenses a good surgical option for a small percentage of patients. "Multifocality is almost like a learned behavior—there's an adjustment phase that patients have to go through," said Robert Weinstock, MD, The Eye Institute of West Florida, Largo, Fla. "Even with that, there are some patients who cannot get used to it and have some debilitating glare at night or an over- all decreased quality of vision." New IOL technology poised to enter the U.S. market this year and new implantation techniques, however, will expand the multifo- cal options available to patients, offering the potential of increased range of vision, fewer unwanted visual effects, and astigmatism man- agement options. With these new technologies and methods, surgeons may be able to offer multifocal IOLs to a wider array of patients. Dr. Weinstock, Douglas Koch, MD, professor and the Allen, Mos- bacher, and Law chair in ophthal- mology, Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and Bonnie An Henderson, MD, partner at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and clinical professor of Multifocal IOLs Streamlines data calculation and communicates planning seamlessly to your LenSx ® Laser and/or surgical microscope to help you make the right clinical decisions. PROCESS: WHAT CAN A SEAMLESS SURGICAL PROCESS DO FOR YOUR OUTCOMES? From imaging to planning to guiding your surgical execution, the VERION™ Image Guided System can help reduce the potential for refractive error. Now you can confi dently make a surgical plan that will help you deliver the corrected vision your patients expect and deserve. VERION™ Image Guided System Process Map © 2014 Novartis 12/14 ORA14059JAD-B AT A GLANCE • Multifocal IOLs—and presbyopia- correcting lenses in general—make up less than 10% of cataract surgeons' annual volume. • Personality is a major factor in determining who is a good candidate for multifocal IOLs. • New technologies such as toric multifocal and extended range of vision IOLs will expand the pool of patients who are candidates and provide better options for spectacle independence. continued on page 108 ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, dis- cussed the best practices for multi- focal IOL implantation, techniques for mixing and matching multifocal and monofocal IOLs, and the new lens technologies that they are most excited about. Who are the best candidates? The physicians agreed that multi- focal IOL candidates should have healthy eyes free of sight-threaten- ing pathology, such as corneal scars or irregularities, significant dry eye, or macular pathology. "Any type of epiretinal mem- brane, significant macular degenera- tion, or moderate end-stage glauco- ma makes someone a poor candidate for a multifocal IOL," Dr. Weinstock said.

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