Epikeratophakia for correction of complicated aphakia.

We reviewed the cases of 21 patients (22 eyes) who underwent epikeratophakia for aphakia with at least 4 months' follow-up. Thirteen had traumatic cataracts, six had relative contraindications for implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL), one had a dislocated IOL and one had bilateral congenital cataracts. The mean best corrected visual acuity was 20/32.0 (range 20/20 to 20/70) before surgery and 20/38.6 (range 20/20 to 20/70) after surgery. The uncorrected visual acuity improved in all eyes. Twenty eyes (91%) were within two lines of the preoperative best corrected acuity; all eyes were within four lines. Twenty eyes were within 3.0 dioptres of emmetropia postoperatively; all eyes were within 5.0 dioptres of emmetropia. No serious complications were encountered. We conclude that epikeratophakia is a good alternative for the correction of aphakia.