Long-term outcomes of cataract surgery with toric intraocular lens implantation by the type of preoperative astigmatism

Surgical outcomes of toric intraocular lens (IOL) implantation for 8 years after surgery were analyzed. Data were retrospectively collected in 176 eyes of 176 patients before and 1 month, 1, 3, 5, and 8 years after phacoemulsification and implantation of a toric IOL. Preoperative corneal and postoperative manifest astigmatism was analyzed by converting to power vector notations; horizontal/vertical (J(0)) and oblique (J(45)) astigmatism components. Toric IOL implantation significantly reduced pre-existing astigmatism by decreasing J(0) in eyes with preoperative with-the-rule (WTR) astigmatism, increasing J(0) in eyes with against-the-rule (ATR) astigmatism, and correcting J(45) in eyes with oblique astigmatism. After surgery, the eyes with preoperative ATR astigmatism showed a significant ATR astigmatic shift, and J(0) at 5 and 8 years was significantly smaller than that at 1 month postoperatively. Uncorrected distance visual acuity was also significantly worse at 5 and 8 years than at 1 month postoperatively. In eyes with WTR and oblique astigmatism, the effects of toric IOLs on astigmatism and visual acuity were sustained for 8 years. The long-term astigmatism-correcting effects did not differ among the models of toric IOL used in this study, SN6AT3–8 (Alcon Laboratories). In eyes with preoperative ATR astigmatism, astigmatism-correcting effects of toric IOLs decreased at 5 years and later postoperatively, indicating that overcorrection may be considered at the time of cataract surgery. In eyes with WTR and oblique astigmatism, the effects of toric IOLs were maintained throughout the 8-year follow-up period.