Long-Term Endothelial Cell Loss in Patients with Artisan Myopia and Artisan Toric Phakic Intraocular Lenses: 5- and 10-Year Results.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the long-term change in endothelial cell density (ECD) after the implantation of 2 types of rigid iris-fixated phakic intraocular lenses (pIOLs) for the treatment of myopia and astigmatism.

DESIGN

Prospective, clinical cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 507 eyes of 289 patients receiving the Artisan Myopia or Artisan Toric (Ophtec B.V., Groningen, The Netherlands) iris-fixated pIOL for the treatment of myopia or astigmatism at the University Eye Clinic Maastricht as of January 1998.

METHODS

A total of 381 myopic and 126 toric pIOLs were implanted. Five- and 10-year follow-ups were completed by 193 and 127 eyes implanted with the myopic pIOL and by 40 and 20 eyes implanted with the toric pIOL, respectively.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Chronic endothelial cell (EC) loss, percentage of eyes with a decrease of ≥25% in ECD, and percentage of eyes with an ECD <1500 cells/mm.

RESULTS

Chronic EC loss was calculated from 6 months postoperatively to the end of follow-up and showed an annual ECD decline of 48 cells/mm (standard error, 3.14) and 61 cells/mm (standard error, 6.30) in the myopic (P < 0.001) and toric (P < 0.001) groups, respectively, resulting in a total EC loss of 16.6% and 21.5% from 6 months to 10 years postoperatively, respectively. Ten years after implantation, ECD had decreased by ≥25% in 7.9% and 6.3%, whereas ECD was <1500 cells/mm in 3.9% and 4.0% in the myopic and toric groups, respectively. Explantation of the pIOL occurred in 6.0% in the myopic group and 4.8% in the toric group. Risk factors for increased EC loss were a shallow anterior chamber depth (ACD) (P ≤ 0.005) and a smaller distance between the central and peripheral pIOL edge to the endothelium (P ≤ 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

A significant linear chronic EC loss was reported after implantation with myopic or toric iris-fixated pIOLs. A smaller ACD and smaller distance between pIOL edge and endothelium were risk factors for EC loss. Modification of preoperative age-related ECD thresholds is indicated to maintain an ECD that warrants safe future combined pIOL explantation and cataract surgery.