Intraocular lens design and the inhibition of epithelium.

Of 1170 eyes implanted with posterior chamber lenses between 1981 and 1986 and having intact capsules at surgery, 1015 were examined two years after surgery, 741 were examined three years after surgery, and 308 were examined five years after surgery. At three years the capsulotomy rate for epithelium was 25% for 263 'lasergap' lenses, 2.4% for 296 convex posterior lenses, 8.2% for 73 planoposterior lenses with angulated loops. The highly significant difference for lasergap design, whether ridged, meniscus, or bossed, is of immediate interest to surgeons concerned with minimising the need for secondary capsulotomy. The two-year follow-up of soft hydrogel lenses suggested that these lenses also do not significantly retard the ingrowth of epithelium.