Age-related behavior of posterior chamber lenses in myopic phakic eyes during accommodation measured by anterior segment partial coherence interferometry

PURPOSE: To evaluate age-related position shifts of the crystalline lens and the implantable contact lens (ICL, Staar Surgical) by a new, commercially available, anterior segment partial coherence interferometer, the ACMaster (Carl Zeiss Meditec), during accommodation in myopic eyes. SETTING: ALZ Augenklinik, Munich, Germany. METHODS: Fifty-three eyes of 29 consecutive patients were measured after myopic ICL implantation before and during subjective accommodation to a stimulus of 3 diopters (D) by anterior segment partial coherence interferometry (PCI). Nine eyes were also measured with a 5.00 diopters (D) stimulus; 14 eyes were measured repeatedly at different visits. The mean patient age was 33 years +/- 9 (SD) (range 21 to 59 years). The preoperative mean sphere was -7.6 +/- 1.9 D (range -5.0 to -11.5 D) and the cylinder, -1.4 +/- 1.1 D (range 0 to -4.25 D). RESULTS: Older patients had a tendency toward smaller vaults on desaccommodation between the ICL and the crystalline lens compared to younger individuals. In younger patients, there was a decrease of the vault on accommodation, whereas it increased in older persons (P = .005). During accommodation, the more the anterior lens surface shifted forward, the more the ICL bulged (P = .005). The change in vaulting was significantly larger at 5.00 D than at 3.00 D accommodation stimulus (P = .012). CONCLUSIONS: The behavior of ICLs in relation to the crystalline lens during accommodation varied with age and could be shown by PCI. The position shift of the ICL depended on the initial vault at desaccommodation and the ability of the anterior lens surface to bulge forward. Even though the crystalline lens stiffened, and therefore accommodation deteriorated with age, there was still a movement of the ICL, pointing to the role of the ciliary muscle movement in accommodation.