Determinants of intraocular lens tilt and decentration after cataract surgery

BACKGROUND: To identify the main determinants of intraocular lens (IOL) tilt and decentration after cataract surgery using a novel anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) method. METHODS: Fifty-six patients who underwent phacoemulsification with IOL implantation in one eye were continuously enrolled in this cohort study. Axial length (AL) was measured with IOL Master 700. The tilt and decentration of patients’ preoperative crystalline lenses and postoperative IOLs, as well as crystalline lens thickness (LT), were measured using AS-OCT before surgery and 1 week after surgery. RESULTS: The mean tilt and decentration of the patients’ preoperative crystalline lenses were 4.90°±1.81° and 0.21±0.02 mm, and the mean tilt and decentration of IOLs were 4.75°±1.66° and 0.21±0.02 mm, respectively. There were no significant differences in magnitude, direction of tilt, or decentration between crystalline lenses and IOLs. The strongest determinant of IOL tilt was preoperative crystalline lens tilt (R(2)=0.512, P<0.001), followed by AL (R(2)=0.154, P=0.003). Additionally, crystalline lens decentration and AL explained 54.6% of the variability in IOL decentration. AL was the factor most highly associated with IOL decentration (R(2)=0.332, P<0.001), rather than crystalline lens decentration (R(2)=0.214, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The position of the preoperative crystalline lens and AL were the critical determinants of IOL tilt and decentration. The tilt and decentration of IOLs will be greater in patients with larger tilt and decentration of crystalline lenses, or shorter and longer AL.