PURPOSE: We present the first in vivo CT and MR imaging description of
intraocular lenses (IOLs), which are commonly encountered in elderly
patients who have undergone cataract surgery, METHODS: A retrospective
review was done of the imaging studies of 20 patients (22 eyes) with
IOLs and of three patients (four eyes) with aphakia. CT and MR studies
were performed with standard clinical protocols. RESULTS: Sixteen pat
ients with 18 posterior IOLs underwent six CT and 43 MR studies. Four
patients,vith four anterior IOLs had one CT and eight MR studies. The
exact position of the optic portion of the IOL could be optimally dete
rmined on CT scans with l-mm-thick sections and on fat-saturated fast
TZ-weighted MR orbital coil studies performed on a 1.5-T imager. The h
aptics could not be distinguished from the ciliary body, Three patient
s with aphakia had eight MR and two CT studies. Aphakia was difficult
to identify if the image thickness was greater than the diameter of th
e pupil (2.5 to 4.0 mm). CONCLUSION: The optic portion of an IOL is vi
sible on either high-quality CT or MR studies. However, the haptic por
tion is not visible on clinical in vivo images.