Glistenings in the Single-Piece, Hydrophobic, Acrylic Intraocular Lenses

Incidence of glistenings with the latest generation of yellow-tinted hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses

“…The glistening incidence in our series is higher than that reported in almost all previous studies of glistenings in Acrysof IOLs (Table 3). 8,[10][11][12][13][14][16][17][18][19] However, comparisons between studies must be performed with caution because different populations (ie, age and sex) were analyzed and different criteria were used for grading glistenings. Furthermore, the incidence of glistenings in our series was also higher than that reported for silicone, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and hydrophilic acrylic IOLs.…”

“…Several authors have evaluated the potential effect of this phenomenon on visual function by analyzing its relationship with CDVA, 8,11,17,19 contrast sensitivity, 10,13,14,16 and intraocular light scattering. 21 Most studies 8,11,17,19 found that glistenings did not decrease CDVA in eyes with various types of IOLs.…”

“…1 This phenomenon has been associated with temperature changes 2-7 that lead to the decomposition of the swollen polymer network that initiates the formation of microvacuoles consisting of water and loosely packed network chains. 3 Although most studies of glistenings report the incidence of the phenomenon in hydrophobic acrylic IOLs, [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] they have also been observed with other types of IOL materials, such as poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), silicone, and hydrophilic acrylates. [17][18][19][20] Claims of an association between this phenomenon and decreased corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) 1,8,11,16 and contrast sensitivity or with intraocular light scatter have been controversial.…”

Effects of glistenings in intraocular lenses

“…In total, 6 studies examined the effect of glistenings on CS. Four of these studies reported that glistenings had a significant negative effect on the high spatial frequency CS [1][2][3][4] and two studies were non-conclusive [5,6]. While some studies do show a decrease in VA with increased severity of glistenings [6,7] the general consensus in the literature tends to be that visual acuity is unaffected by glistenings [1][2][3]5,[8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

“…The glistenings formation, as well as the severity of glistenings, has been correlated with longer follow-up times [3,7,10,[24][25][26]. Very few studies that evaluate the progression beyond one year find glistening formation to be stable [5,6].…”