Artisan iris-claw lenses for the correction of aphakia in children following lensectomy for ectopia lentis.

PURPOSE

To describe the results of Artisan iris-claw lens implants in children with aphakia following lensectomy for ectopia lentis.

METHOD

We measured visual acuity, refractive error and endothelial cell counts and recorded complications in a group of children after insertion of Artisan iris-claw implants.

RESULTS

Artisan implants were implanted in eight eyes of five children. Mean follow-up was 28 months (range: 4-58 months). The mean preoperative LogMAR best-corrected visual acuity was 0.21 ± 0.2, and postoperatively, mean LogMAR uncorrected visual acuity was 0.04 ± 0.09 (p=0.04). Mean endothelial cell count was 3312 ± 277 cells preoperatively and 2913 ± 268 cells postoperatively, representing a mean cell loss of 14.2% (p<0.001). Mean defocus equivalent was 11.38 ± 1.04 preoperatively and 2.34 ± 0.66 postoperatively. We encountered no postoperative complications in any of the eyes.

CONCLUSION

Artisan iris-claw implants are safe and effective in the correction of aphakia in children following lensectomy for ectopia lentis, enabling good spectacle-free distance vision in 75% of eyes with no postoperative complications.