SILICONE INTRAOCULAR LENSES AND SILICONE OIL

Background Foldable silicone intraocular implants are becoming more po pular in conjunction with small incision phacoemulsification. Patients We observed three patients with silicone oil droplets adherent to the posterior surface of the silicone implant, following silicone oil rem oval after preceding vitreoretinal surgery with the installation of si licone oil, These droplets could not be dislodged intraoperatively eit her with focal aspiration or irrigation. They interfered with the pati ents subjective visual acuity. For this reason, we performed an exchan ge of the silicone intraocular implant against a PMMA one-piece lens i n all three cases. Results This procedure resulted in an increase of t he visual acuity. The mechanism of adherence between the two silicone polymers is finally not known. Conclusions With increased use ofimplan table silicone intraocular lens and silicone oil this complication may be encountered more frequently. Therefore, implantation of silicone l ens in vitreoretinal high risk eyes should avoided.