Reasons for Exchange and Explantation of Intraocular Lenses

Background: This study was performed to analyse the reasons for explantation/exchange of intraocular lenses (IOL), which had originally been implanted for the correction of aphakia during cataract extraction. Material and Methods: All cases with IOL explantation, which had been performed at one institution between 1/2008 and 12/2009 were analysed retrospectively. Results: A total of 105 eyes of 100 patients were analysed. The median time interval between implantation and explantation of the IOL was 5.9 years (min. 0, max. 29.6). The most frequent cause for the intervention was subluxation/dislocation of the implant in 55.2% of cases. This group comprised 21 % of cases with subluxation within the capsular bag in pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Other reasons were optical problems/incorrect IOL power (21 %), calcification of hydrophilic acrylic IOL (7.6%), corneal decompensation associated with an anterior chamber lens (4.8%), and single cases with varying problems. Conclusion: The reasons for IOL exchange presented in this study are comparable to those of other series in the literature. Explantations due to optical problems may gain weight in the future due to a rise in refractive procedures and demands.