Intraocular implants: the postoperative astigmatism.

A series of 100 cases of intraocular implants has been considered, especially with regard to the postoperative astigmatism. This was found to be far higher than in a similar series of cases subjected to the same techniques without an implant. The operative results appear to be as good as in any conventional series, except for 2 cases. The reason for the excessive astigmatism (average 2.84 D) is not clear but the following factors have been suggested: (1) faulty surgical technique, that is, irregular corneal healing; (2) astigmatic errors in the actual intraocular lens itself; (3) tilting of the intraocular lens; (4) the intraocular lens, owing to its own inherent weight, may pull on the iris and ciliary body and even distort the cornea on healing. A summation of all these factors could produce an undesirably high degree of astigmatism.