Clinical outcomes after implantation of a novel binocular complementary extended depth of focus intraocular lens compared to bilateral low near-add multifocal intraocular lenses.

INTRODUCTION Aim of this study was to assess the clinical outcomes of two diffractive intraocular lenses (IOL): a novel binocular complementary IOL compared to a conventional low near-add multifocal IOL (MIOL). METHODS Patients scheduled for cataract surgery were randomly allocated into two groups receiving either binocular complementary optical systems (ARTIS SYMBIOSE Mid and Plus, Cristalens, France) or low near-add MIOL (AT LARA, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Germany). Patients had visual acuity (VA) assessment at distance, intermediate, and near as well as evaluation of contrast sensitivity, halometry and reading performance. RESULTS In total, 56 eyes of 28 patients were enrolled. At 6 months, there were no statistically significant differences in visual acuity between the ARTIS SYMBIOSE and the AT LARA. Contrast sensitivity at 1.5 cycles per degree under photopic conditions without glare was 1.54 logCS with the ARTIS SYMBIOSE and 1.43 logCS with the AT LARA (p=0.046), under mesopic conditions with glare at 1.5 and 3 cycles per degree 1.31 logCS and 1.28 logCS with the ARTIS SYMBIOSE, respectively, compared to 0.58 logCS and 0.51 logCS with the AT LARA (p=0.002; p=0.006). Halos and reading performance between both groups were similar. CONCLUSION There were no significant differences between both groups in visual acuity at different distances, reading ability or halometry. The contrast sensitivity at low spatial frequencies was better in the ARTIS SYMBIOSE group under photopic conditions with and without glare as well as mesopic conditions with glare.