Cataracts are a leading cause of correctable vision impairment among older Americans. But until recently, if you underwent cataract surgery to restore your driving vision, you still needed to wear bifocals or reading glasses for near vision.
With modern refractive cataract surgery and the use of multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs), that’s beginning to change.
In a study published in this month’s American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers report the results of 1-year study that evaluated the safety and effectiveness of the new Tecnis ZM900 multifocal IOL designed to restore vision at all distances after cataract surgery.
The lens is manufactured and sold by Abbott Medical Optics (AMO), based in Santa Ana, California.
The study evaluated the outcomes of 125 patients who underwent cataract surgery in both eyes with bilateral implantation of the Tecnis ZM900 multifocal IOL and 123 patients who underwent the same bilateral procedure with implantation of a conventional monofocal IOL (CeeOn 911A, also made by AMO) in both eyes.
The surgeries were performed at multiple eye surgery centers across the country by cataract surgeons who agreed to participate in the FDA study.
At the end of the 1-year study period, results included:
- 84 percent of patients receiving the Tecnis multifocal IOL achieved the combination of binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity of 20/25 and binocular uncorrected near visual acuity of 20/32, compared with only 6.2 percent of patients receiving the monofocal IOL.
- Visual acuity for reading and reading speed were significantly better among patients receiving the Tecnis multifocal IOL compared with those receiving the monofocal IOL.
- 96 percent of those receiving the Tecnis multifocal IOL reported being able to see comfortably at near without reading glasses, compared with 30 percent of those receiving the monofocal IOL.
- 85 percent of those receiving the Tecnis multifocal IOL in both eyes reported being free from wearing glasses throughout the day, compared with only 5.2 percent of those receiving the monofocal IOL.
The researchers concluded that the Tecnis multifocal IOL provided enhanced near vision, reading visual acuity and speed, depth of focus and spectacle independence compared with a conventional monofocal IOL.
SOURCE: Evaluation of the aspheric Tecnis multifocal intraocular lens: One-year results from the first cohort of the Food and Drug Administration clinical trial. American Journal of Ophthalmology. April 2010.
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