Foldable IOL launched

The lens, which is used in conjunction with phacoemulsification techniques, is said to have a zonal progressive design comprising five concentric zones, resulting in 50 per cent of the available light being focused for distance vision, 37 per cent for near vision and 13 per cent for intermediate vision. Clinical studies by Kohnen et al (1998) found that 55.7 per cent of patients with bilateral implants of the new lens achieved 6/6 or better plus N5 vision, which compared with 13.2 per cent using conventional monofocal IOLs. Paul Rosen, consultant ophthalmologist at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford told a meeting of United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract Refractive Surgeons last week (September 17) that the implants were particularly successful in young patients with a traumatic cataract. He added: 'These patients still have full accommodation in the uninjured, so a multifocal lens is ideal in this group.' Adrian Beckingsale, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, also told the Chester meeting: 'The normal, healthy, youthful crystalline lens has three refractive properties - to provide a clear optical medium, to focus an image onto the retina and to accommodate. 'Current monofocal lenses fulfil the first two criteria, but the restoration of true accommodation remains elusive. Multifocal lenses, however, are 'pseudoaccomodative' - that is, they mimic this third function of accommodation.' picture caption: Allergan's first foldable multifocal, the Array