Refractive Results of Hyperopic Hydrogel Intracorneal Lenses in Primate Eyes

Hyperopic hydrogel intracorneal lenses were successfully implanted into 27 of 33 primate eyes. All eyes were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively at monthly intervals for clinical appearance and refractive alteration. In a preliminary surgical series, several factors, such as tight sutures and implant design, resulted in a poor refractive yield. The final surgical series used a microkeratome with a pediatric microkeratome ring for smooth interface cuts, interrupted suturing with sufficient tension to align the wound without compression, a suture through the lens to prevent its dislocation, and intraoperative keratometry to reduce postoperative cylinder. The predicted vs measured refractive alteration for a range of 6 to 20 diopters had a correlation coefficient of .95. Keratometry changes correlated to the refractive changes with a coefficient of .97 but understand the change in refraction created by the surgery.