Refractive outcomes of toric intra-ocular lens implantation in cases of high posterior corneal astigmatism

PURPOSE: To evaluate whether the toric intra-ocular lens (IOL) power calculation based on total corneal astigmatism (TCA) in eyes with high posterior corneal astigmatism (PCA) could result in a systematic over-correction or under-correction after operation. METHODS: The present study included a mono-centric retrospective study design. The data were collected from 62 consecutive eyes during uncomplicated cataract surgery by a single surgeon with a measured PCA of 0.50 diopters (D) or higher. Toric IOL calculations were made using TCA measurements. The eyes were grouped as either “with-the-rule” (WTR) or “against-the-rule” (ATR) on the basis of the steep anterior corneal meridian. The post-operative refractive astigmatic prediction error was analyzed 1 month post-operatively using the vector analysis by the Alpins method and double-angle plots method. RESULTS: The correction indexes were 1.14 ± 0.29 in the ATR eyes and 1.25 ± 0.18 for the WTR eyes, indicating a tendency toward over-correction. The mean over-correction was 0.22 ± 0.52D in the ATR group and 0.65 ± 0.60D in the WTR group. The magnitude of error (ME) values were significantly different from the ideal value of zero in both groups (ATR: P = 0.03; WTR: P = 0.00). No significant difference in mean absolute error (MAE) in predicted residual astigmatism was found between ATR and WTR groups (0.61 ± 0.42 D versus 0.64 ± 0.39 D; P = 0.54). The ATR group yielded better results, with 48% <0.50D prediction error in the main analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggested that in cases of high PCA, the toric IOL calculation, which was performed using TCA, may cause a potential over-correction in the ATR and WTR eyes. For ATR eyes, over-correction led to slight disruption of post-operative visual quality because of the “with-the-rule” residual astigmatism after operation. Therefore, we suggested using TCA for toric IOL calculation in ATR eyes.