One-year follow-up of bag-in-the-lens intraocular lens implantation in 60 eyes.

PURPOSE: To report the feasibility and clinical results of implanting a bag-in-the-lens intraocular lens (IOL) designed to prevent posterior capsule opacification after cataract surgery.

SETTING: Departments of Ophthalmology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, and University of Munich, Munich, Germany.

METHODS: This prospective study comprised 63 eyes (55 patients; 7 children, 48 adults) scheduled for cataract surgery and bag-in-the-lens IOL implantation. A posterior curvilinear capsulorhexis the same size as the anterior capsulorhexis was created for IOL insertion. After surgery, lens epithelial cell (LEC) proliferation was documented every 6 months with a minimum follow-up of 12 months.

RESULTS: Sixty of 63 eyes (95%) had implantation of the bag-in-the-lens IOL. Conversion to a conventional IOL was necessary in 2 cases. In 1 eye, postoperative luxation of the IOL into the vitreous occurred as a result of an oversized anterior and posterior capsulorhexis. Three eyes had early postoperative iris incarceration in the lens groove that required surgery. No LEC proliferation on the optic occurred during a mean follow-up of 22.7 months (range 12 to 64 months); LEC proliferation was confined to the peripheral capsular bag.

CONCLUSION: Lens epithelial cell proliferation was mild and confined to the periphery of the capsular bag during follow-up, and the bag-in-the-lens IOL optic remained clear.