Clinical Evaluation of Nd:YAG Capsulotomy on the Light-Adjustable Intraocular Lens.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the safety and refractive outcomes of neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) capsulotomy in pseudophakic eyes with the Light Adjustable Lens (LAL) both before and after completing the light delivery device (LDD) lock-in treatments.

Setting: Private practice in Orange, California, USA.

Design: Retrospective, comparative study.

Methods: Patients were divided into two groups according to the timing of their YAG capsulotomy (Group I underwent YAG capsulotomy before lock-in treatments and Group II underwent YAG capsulotomy upon completion of lock-in treatments). Sphere, cylinder, axis, spherical equivalent, uncorrected visual acuity, and best-corrected visual acuity were compared pre- and postoperatively using two-tailed paired t-tests. Postoperative data were measured one month after Nd:YAG capsulotomy. The alpha level (type I error) was set at 0.05.

Results: The LAL was successfully implanted in 485 eyes from January 2020 to March 2023. Ten eyes (0.02%) needed YAG capsulotomy prior to the completion of lock-in treatments (Group I) and 28 eyes (5.77%) needed YAG capsulotomy after the lock-in was completed (Group II). Postoperative BCVA significantly improved compared to preoperative values in both groups. Changes in sphere, cylinder, axis, SE, and UCVA pre- and postoperative measurements were not statistically significant (p > 0.05) in both groups.

Conclusions: YAG capsulotomy can be safe and effective for patients with the LAL who develop PCO during the adjustment period. There were no significant changes in sphere, cylinder, axis, or spherical equivalence after YAG capsulotomy in both groups.