comparison of visual outcomes between aspheric iols: tecnis z9000 versus akreos ao

purpose: to compare tecnis z9000 and akreos ao aspheric intraocular lenses (iols) in terms of spherical aberration and contrast sensitivity. methods: thirty-four eyes of 34 patients undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery were randomly assigned for implantation of tecnis or akreos ao iols. three months postoperatively, best-corrected visual acuity (bcva), spherical aberration (with 4 and 6 mm pupil diameters) and contrast sensitivity in photopic and mesopic conditions at spatial frequencies of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 cycles per degree (cpd) were determined. results: mean bcva was 0.076±0.080 logmar in the tecnis group and 0.115±0.090 logmar in the ao group (p=0.33). spherical aberration with 4 mm and 6 mm pupil diameters in the tecnis group was less than the ao group (0.140±0.097 µm vs 0.285±0.087 µm, p< 0.001 and 0.303±0.183 µm vs 0.329±0.083 µm, p=0.4, respectively). contrast sensitivity was significantly higher in the tecnis group at 1, 2, 5 and 10 cpd under photopic and at 1, 2 and 10 cpd under mesopic conditions. conclusion: tecnis z9000 iol seems to entail better visual outcomes in terms of spherical aberration and contrast sensitivity compared to akreos ao iol.