Incidence of posterior capsule opacification following the implantation of a foldable hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens: a 4 year follow-up study.

PURPOSE To evaluate the incidence of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) four years after the implantation of a hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens (IOL). METHODS Fifty-eight randomly selected eyes from 58 patients were analyzed four years after phacoemulsification and Ioflex IOL implantation. The patients underwent an ophthalmic examination to detect PCO and a detailed medical history was obtained. The patients' charts were reviewed for their corrected distance visual acuity prior to the IOL implantation, as well as for one month postoperatively. The Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS The mean age of patients without PCO was 74.6 ± 9.5 years, compared to 70.3 ± 15 years in patients with PCO. Four years after surgery, 39 of the 58 eyes (67%) had detectable PCO and 24 eyes (41.3%) had decreased visual acuity (VA) due to PCO. These patients were referred for Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy. Three patients (5.1%) had decreased VA due to glaucoma, IOL opacification, or age-related macular degeneration. Twelve eyes (20.7%) presented mild PCO with unchanged VA. Systemic arterial hypertension was reported by 45% of the patients, and in 3.5% of these cases this was associated with diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION This study found the incidence of PCO to be 67% four years after phacoemulsification and Ioflex IOL implantation.