Anterior chamber intraocular lens implantation in patients with a history of chronic uveitis: five-year follow-up.

Purpose To compare the incidence of long-term complications after cataract surgery with primary anterior chamber intraocular lens (AC IOL) implantation in uveitic patients and patients without a history of intraocular inflammation (control group). Setting Single-center private practice. Design Retrospective clinical study. Methods The study comprised patients who between November 2005 and August 2010 had cataract extraction followed by AC IOL implantation because conventional placement was not possible. Outcome measures were the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications, preoperative corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), and CDVA after 1 year. Results Of the 39 patients identified through electronic medical records, 17 (17 eyes) had a history of chronic uveitis and 22 (23 eyes) had no intraocular inflammatory disease. There were no significant differences in the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications between the 2 groups during follow-up (range 12 to 68 months) ( P =.702). Although uveitic eyes had a greater risk for epiretinal membrane formation, the incidence of uveitis flareups attributed to the IOL and deposits on IOL surfaces was comparable to that in the control group ( P P P Conclusion In uveitic eyes with inadequate capsule support, AC IOL implantation restored visual function without a significant increase in long-term postoperative complications compared with eyes that had no history of uveitis. Financial Disclosure No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.