Morphological changes and lens position 2 1/2 years after intracapsular cataract extraction with implantation of a semiflexible anterior chamber lens. A prospective re-examination.

Morphological changes and lens position were examined in 51 patients 25 to 38 (mean 30) months after intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) with implantation of the semiflexible, 3M, style 70, anterior chamber lens. Morphological changes presumably associated with the ICCE proper were: iris transillumination defects (68.6%), rupture of anterior hyaloid membrane (20%), detachment of posterior vitreous (42.9%) and anterior synecchiae (13.7%). The implant-related morphological changes were caused by iris tucking (19.6%), small, mobile lenses causing endothelial disturbance (9.8%), iris-haptic adhesions and progressive ovalling of pupillary form. The present morphological changes were compared with a previously published examination of the same patients performed 4 months after surgery: 9 eyes without tissue changes around the lens feet at the previous follow-up now had iris-haptic adhesions involving from 1 to 4 lens feet. In 8 eyes the iris-haptic adhesions had progressed. Compared with the previous examination the fraction of eyes with tissue changes at the lens feet had risen from 47.1 to 64.7%, while the number of eyes with oval pupils had increased from 54.9 to 80.4%. Contact between lens haptic and iris root seems to constitute a constant stimulus for structural changes of the iris.