Safety of the artisan iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens

Abstract

Refractive surgery is a subfield in ophthalmology that focusses on the surgical correction of ametropia. A multitude of refractive surgical methods are available to refractive surgeons.

Individualized refractive correction, i.e. choosing the best available method for a particular patient, is one of the greatest challenges in refractive surgery. Choosing the appropriate treatment option should be based on the individual’s risk-benefit profile. For this, it is necessary for refractive surgeons to know the short- and long-term results of all current refractive correction methods and to be aware of the pitfalls and drawbacks of the anterior segment imaging techniques used for patient selection and follow-up.

This thesis focusses on the safety of ametropic eyes optically corrected with the non-foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens.

The first part of this thesis reports on middle- and long-term clinical results after implantation of the non-foldable iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens for the correction of myopic and hyperopic refractive errors. In the second part of this thesis aspects of safety considerations with respect to patient selection criteria and follow-up are described.