Surgical Indications and Clinical Results of Patients with Exchanged Intraocular Lenses in a Tertiary Eye Hospital

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the demographics, surgical indications and clinical results of patients with repositioned or explanted intraocular lens (IOL) in a tertiary referral eye hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight eyes of 48 patients that underwent surgery to exchange or reposition the IOL at Ulucanlar Eye Training and Research Hospital between 2009 and 2013 were included in the study. Medical records of patients were evaluated for surgical indications, time elapsed since initial operation, preoperative and postoperative best corrected distance visual acuity and the presence of ocular disease. RESULTS: The mean age of the 31 male and 17 female patients was 64.91±14.26 years. Median time between the initial and final operations was 36.0 months. Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PEX) was present in 25% of the patients. There was history of previous vitreoretinal surgery in 18.8% of patients, ocular trauma in 6.3%, high myopia and refractive surgery in 4% of patients. In the first operation the IOL was implanted in the sulcus in 50%, in the bag in 27.1%, and in the anterior chamber in 20.8%; following the final surgery the IOL was in the sulcus in 27.1%, in the anterior chamber in 22.9%, and fixated to the sclera in 10.4% of the patients, while the remaining 29.1% remained aphakic. Indication for the secondary surgery was IOL dislocation in 58%, corneal decompensation in 20.8% and IOL degeneration in 6.3%. In the final surgery, IOL was exchanged in 54.2% of the cases, removed in 31.3% of cases, and repositioned in 14.6%. Visual acuity improved by 1-3 lines in 52.3% and remained stable in 13.6% of the patients postoperatively. CONCLUSION: IOL exchange may be necessary at any time following cataract surgery due to surgical complications, IOL dislocation, biometric measurement errors and corneal decompensation. Factors such as vitreoretinal surgery and the existence of PEX increase the risk of IOL exchange surgery.