Secondary implantation of flexible, open loop anterior chamber IOLs wa
s performed on 20 aphakic eyes between January 1990 and May 1992. In 3
cases anterior vitrectomy was necessary. No other complications were
encountered during surgery. The patients were followed up for 4 months
postoperatively. Seventeen eyes achieved a corrected visual acuity of
5/5 or better. Fourteen eyes achieved the same visual acuity as preop
eratively, and 5 ended with an improved visual outcome. In one case th
e visual acuity became worse than preoperatively due to cystoid macula
r edema. No other serious postoperative complications occurred. The po
stoperative refraction was within 1 diopter of emmetropia in 16 eyes c
ompared to the estimated (biometry) 19 eyes. We conclude that implanta
tion of flexible open loop anterior chamber IOLs is a safe procedure i
n properly selected cases.