Contrast Sensitivity and Glare Disability in Different IOL Types After Clear-corneal Cataract Surgery

OBJECTIVE: The effect of one PMMA and, two different silicone IOLs on contrast sensitivity and glare disability was evaluated in a selected series of patients (best cases) following clearcorneal incision phacoemulsification. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical study of visual function 6 months postoperatively. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Giessen, Germany. PATIENTS: Forty-two patients with visual acuity (VA) of 0.8 (logMAR unit) or better. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Contrast sensitivity (CS) under photopic conditions using a sinusoidal grating pattern wall chart (Vistech Consultants, Dayton, Ohio); CS and glare disability under mesopic conditions using the Mesotest (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany). RESULTS: No significant difference in CS and glare disability between the different IOL groups can be demonstrated. Differentiating according to age showed that patients in the 70-and-over age group had significantly lower CS values compared with patients in the 70-and-below age group. No difference in glare disability between the age groups could be determined. CONCLUSIONS: Examination of visual function by means of contrast sensitivity and glare disability testing after successful clear-corneal cataract surgery shows no difference between the different silicone IOLs and PMMA IOL, respectively. Patient age is a more important factor in CS than IOL-type and material in good VA and absence of other ocular pathology.