To Study and Compare the Incidence of Posterior Capsule Opacification Depending on the Type of Materials used in Different Intraocular Lenses

We present a study which compare the incidence of posterior capsule opacification on type of materials used in different intraocular lenses i.e. Poly Methyl Meth Acrylic IOL, Hydrophilic IOL,Hydrophobic IOL in patients visiting eye O.P.D. of E.S.I.H., Basaidarapur, New Delhi. The target population was patients visiting ophthalmology department of E.S.I. Hospital, Basaidarapur for treatment of visually significant age related cataract. 60 eyes of 60 patients were enrolled in the study and were randomly divided in 3 groups with 20 eyes in each group. All eyes underwent cataract surgery by phaco emulsification technique by one surgeon.

No posterior capsular opacification (pco) was observed in group A (PMMA GROUP) in 6 patients at 18 months follow up,9 patients in group B(hydrophilic group)at 18 months follow up,15 patients in group C (Hydrophobic group)at 18 months follow up, whereas Grade 4 posterior capsular opacification was noted in 3 patients in group A(PMMA)at 18 months follow up, 1 patient in group B(Hydrophillic IOL) at 18 months follow up, 0 patients in group C (Hydrophobic IOL) at 18 months follow up.

From our study, we can conclude that that after a follow up period of 18 months,the incidence of p.c.o. of was higher in PMMA group, followed by silicone IOL, and least in acrylic group. However, the limiting factors for this study was less number of patients, less duration of follow up(18 months) and other factors than pco that can contribute to decrease vision i.e. CME, surgical astigmatism, vitreous opacities etc. Hydrophillic acrylic with hydrophobic surface are hybrid lenses having beneficial properties of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic lenses. We therefore suggest that we can obtain equally good results with lenses priced much lower and delayed the onset &progression of pco in our pseudophakic population.