Peripheral Refraction in Aphakic Eyes

Peripheral refraction was measured in aphakic eyes and control eyes of approximately the same age, using a Topcon refractometer. In addition, two aphakic eyes in young patients were also measured and compared with data obtained on young patients by Millodot using the same technique. It was found that aphakic eyes have much less oblique astigmatism than phakic eyes of the same age, suggesting a large contribution to the crystalline lens. The total oblique astigmatism of the eyes increases with age but that of the cornea remains approximately the same, thus implying that this increase with age is also accounted for by the lens. Moreover, the total oblique astigmatism of old eyes is nearly the same as the theoretical value, suggesting that with age the lens becomes more spherical.