Scleral implant for presbyopia making accommodative gains
Implantation of an investigational device for presbyopia resulted in a minimal 2-line increase in distance-corrected near visual acuity and an actual reduction in the amount of near add needed over time, show findings from a single-center, subgroup analysis.
Reviewed by Y. Ralph Chu, MD
Patient satisfaction is the name of the game in any refractive procedure. This is especially true in the correction of presbyopia. An investigational device for presbyopia (VisAbility Micro-Insert System, Refocus Group) is showing to be satisfying for both patients and surgeons with minimum increases of 2 lines of distance-corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA) and the added bonus of improvement in near visual acuity that increases with time.
Y. Ralph Chu, MD, of the Chu Vision Institute, Bloomington, MN, and his colleagues observed these findings in a single-center, subgroup analysis that was part of a prospective investigational device exemption (IDE) trial of the implant conducted at 13 sites.
The device is a scleral implant, which, once in place, increases the space around the ciliary muscle-thus reducing crowding of the muscle and increasing the ciliary muscle function with resultant accommodation, Dr. Chu noted.
A total of 360 phakic patients who ranged in age from 45 to 60 years were enrolled in the larger study.
Best-corrected distance visual acuity in the study population was 20/20 bilaterally. DCNVA and uncorrected near visual acuity (UCNVA) at 40 cm ranged from 20/50 to 20/80 in each eye.
The manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE) ranged from -0.75 to +0.50 D. Each patient had a minimum add power of +1.25 or greater in order to read 20/20.
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