Reading performance after implantation of a small-aperture corneal inlay for the surgical correction of presbyopia: Two-year follow-up

PURPOSE: To evaluate the change in reading-performance parameters after implantation of the Kamra small-aperture intracorneal inlay over a 2-year follow-up. SETTING: University Eye Clinic, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria. DESIGN: Cohort study. METHODS: This study comprised naturally emmetropic presbyopic patients. Bilateral reading acuity, reading distance, reading speed, and the smallest log-scaled sentence were evaluated in a standardized testing procedure using the Salzburg Reading Desk. The minimum postoperative follow-up was 24 months. RESULTS: The study enrolled 32 patients. The reading desk results showed a significant improvement in each parameter tested. After a mean follow-up of 24.2 months ± 0.8 (SD), the mean reading distance changed from the preoperative value of 48.1 ± 5.5 cm to 38.9 ± 6.3 cm (P < .0001), the mean reading acuity at best distance improved from 0.3 ± 0.14 logRAD to 0.24 ± 0.11 logRAD (P < .000001), and the mean reading speed increased from 142 ± 13 words per minute (wpm) to 149 ± 17 wpm (P=.029). One patient lost 1 line, and 1 patient had no change. The improvement was up to 6 log-scaled lines (mean improvement 2.7 ± 1.6 lines) in the other 30 patients. CONCLUSIONS: After implantation of the small-aperture intracorneal inlay, there was an improvement in all tested reading performance parameters in emmetropic presbyopic patients; the improvement was the result of an increased depth of field. These 2-year results indicate that the inlay is an effective treatment for presbyopia.