gms | German Medical Science

Purpose: Cataracts with congenital aniridia or with traumatic change of the iris require construction of a standard foldable non transparent stenopeic membrane for small incision cataract surgery. Optimal placement for such implant is the bag. The silicone material can induce fibrosis of the bag. The optimal material is iris-matched coloured hydrophobic acrylate.

Methods: A new design of an artificial intracapsular iris is suggested. It is based on 0.3 mm thin stenopeic ring like membrane which was manufacuted from the coloured hydrophobic acrylate. Diameter of the central stenopeic hole is 4mm. The external diameter of the implant is 9 mm. The membrane has a convex form of the anterior surface. The arteficial iris is designed for the Medicel cartridge of 2.2 mm.

Results: We have used the arteficial intracapsular iris in one eye with old postraumatic cataract and temporal defect of the iris and zonula system. In the first step was performed small temporal clear cornea incision (2.0 mm), for a careful phacoemulsification with large CCC(6 mm) the capsular tension ring implantation with the use of 2 capsular hooks was necessary. Injector assisted hydrophobic one piece lens (Tecnis ZCB00) implantation into the bag followed (cartridge Medicel 2.2 mm). The arteficial iris was implanted through the same incision into the bag above the lens (cartridge Medicel 2.2 mm). No complications were observed 3 months after surgery. BCVA increased from LP to 0.1.

Conclusion: New design of the foldable artificial iris from hydrophobic coloured acrylate for intracapsular use and small incision cataract surgery can be used easy in combination with any standard IOL.