Mfazo Hove, MD, shares his own experience with a trifocal IOL, two and a half years after cataract surgery

Mfazo Hove, MD, FRCOphth, a consultant ophthalmologist based in London, has a personal perspective on the trifocal intraocular lens (IOL) he implants in his patients: he has lived with one himself for the past two and a half years. Speaking at the 44th Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS; September 11–15, 2026; London, England), where he moderated a session on IOL types, Hove discussed how his own surgery has shaped the way he counsels patients.

A personal case for cataract surgery

Hove has uveitis, an inflammatory condition managed with steroids; the steroids caused his cataracts. He had cataract surgery two and a half years ago, after roughly a decade in private practice using nearly every lens available. At the time, he and his colleagues had been using the trifocal intraocular lens (AT LISA tri; Carl Zeiss Meditec) for at least a couple of years, with what he described as the best results “by a country mile”—best distance vision, best reading vision, highest patient satisfaction, and the highest rate of spectacle independence. The surgeon who operated on Hove had never implanted that lens before; Hove talked him through the procedure himself, reversing their usual teacher-student roles. There was no backup lens available for the surgery, but the power in stock happened to match exactly what he needed.

Living with glare and halos

Hove said the quality of his vision “surpassed anything I was expecting,” with continuous vision from near to distance rather than the gap between ranges he had previously described to patients. He stopped noticing glare and halos after two or three days. That experience, he said, has given him more confidence discussing glare and halos with patients, though he was careful to note that his own adaptation does not mean every patient will have the same experience.

Coaching patients through the transition

Hove described a practical step he takes on surgery day: he sets patients’ phones to the smallest text size before they leave, which he said forces their eyes to adjust to reading small text more quickly than if they left their devices on a larger setting.

Using his own experience to build trust

Hove said having the lens in his own eyes has become a differentiator with patients, some of whom now seek him out specifically because he has had the procedure himself. He said he will only implant a lens he personally believes is the best option for each patient: “I won’t be the one doing your surgery... because in good conscience I can’t give you a lens I’m not convinced is the best one for you.”