The combination of diffractive and refractive multifocal intraocular lenses to provide full visual function after cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: To investigate if implantation of a far dominant refractive multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) in one eye and a near dominant diffractive multifocal IOL in the fellow eye improves range of vision following cataract surgery.

METHODS

This was a prospective, nonrandomized, case-control study involving 20 patients (40 eyes) scheduled for cataract surgery. Inclusion criteria were bilateral cataracts, minimum age 50 years, availability for follow-up visits, and informed consent. All patients received a far dominant refractive multifocal IOL (ReZoom, Abbott Medical Optics) in their dominant eye and a near dominant diffractive multifocal IOL (Tecnis ZM900, AMO) in their nondominant eye. Preoperative and postoperative measurements (3 months) included refraction, uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), reading acuity, and reading speed.

RESULTS

All patients completed the study. We present results of the 3-month postoperative visit. The patient group comprised 14 females and 6 males, with mean age 72 years (SD 6.1 years). Postoperatively, the mean sphere was 0.05 +/- 0.31 D and the cylinder -0.31 +/- 0.37 D. At the 3-month visit, mean binocular distance UCVA was 0.080 logMAR (SD 0.070) and BCVA was 0.030 logMAR (SD 0.066). The mean binocular near visual acuity was 0.140 logMAR (SD 0.068), mean binocular best-corrected, near visual acuity 0.060 logMAR (SD 0.060).

CONCLUSIONS

The combination of a far dominant refractive multifocal IOL (with better distance performance) with a near dominant diffractive multifocal IOL (with better near vision) proved to be very suitable to help meet cataract patients' visual needs.