Introduction: A new foldable version of an anterior chamber phakic lens designed to surgically correct high myopia was evaluated.
Patients and methods: A prospective study on the efficacy and tolerance of a foldable phakic intraocular iris-supported lens, designed to correct moderately high myopia, is presented in this article. Twenty-five eyes of 25 patients were implanted uneventfully using this lens, newly designed and called the Artiflex lens. This phakic intraocular lens is an upgraded foldable version of the Artisan (or Verisyse) lens. The follow-up was complete (24 months) for all Artiflex-treated eyes and the targeted postoperative refraction was emmetropia. Inclusion criteria were moderately high myopia ranging from -8 to -14 D, unchanged refraction for 2 years, total contact lenses wearing intolerance, refractive cylinder power no greater than 1.5 D, anterior chamber depth greater than 3 mm, and endothelial cell count greater than 2,200 cells/mm2.
Results: The preoperative spherical equivalent was -9.70+/-2.37 D. The spherical equivalent was -1.07+/-0.84 D at 2 years postoperatively. The surgically induced astigmatism was 0.42 D x 67.4-degree axis. The percentage of eyes with an uncorrected visual acuity greater than or equal to 0.5 and 0.8 was 66.6% and 33.3%, respectively. Neither intra- nor postoperative complications were noted during the entire follow-up period. The mean endothelial cell count value was 2267+/-352 at 2 years postoperatively. The objective and subjective quality of vision was acceptable, associated with a high level of patient satisfaction.
Discussion: The refractive results and tolerance of the Artiflex lens are satisfactory and seem to be as good as other phakic intraocular lens outcomes.
Conclusion: To correct moderately high myopia, the Artiflex lens seems to provide a suitable refractive efficacy and a quick visual recovery, secondary to a lowering of induced astigmatism. Furthermore, this phakic intraocular lens is associated with satisfactory safety and quality of vision at each milestone of the entire follow-up period.