Survey of Ophthalmology
Volume 55, Issue 2 , Pages 174-182, March 2010

The Optics of Aphakic and Pseudophakic Eyes in Childhood

  • Scott K. McClatchey, MD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint address: CAPT Scott K. McClatchey, MC, USN, Naval Medical Center San Diego, Ophthalmology Suite 202, 34520 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92134-2202.
    • ,
  • Elizabeth M. Hofmeister, MD

Department of Ophthalmology, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California, USA; Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, USA; and Department of Ophthalmology, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, USA

published online 29 September 2009.

Joseph M. Miller, Editor

Abstract 

The growth of the eye results in a myopic shift in aphakic and pseudophakic eyes during childhood. Cataract surgery after the age of 6 months, with or without lens implantation, appears to have little effect on the rate of refractive growth. Most children with pseudophakia have a large amount of myopic shift. This myopic shift is greatest in children with surgery at younger ages. It is also greater in eyes with high-power intraocular lenses due to an optical phenomenon analogous to the effect of vertex distance. The amount of myopic shift and the variance in rate of refractive growth can be predicted using an empiric, logarithmic model. We describe a revision of this logarithmic model to extend it patients with surgery before 3 months of age. We also analyze the variance in the rate of refractive growth, based on data from pseudophakic children with the longest follow-up in proportion to age.

Key words: children, intraocular lens, myopia, optics, pseudophakia, refraction

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 The opinions expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors, and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Defense, or the U.S. Government. The author reported no proprietary or commercial interest in any product mentioned or concept discussed in this article.

PII: S0039-6257(09)00161-1

doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2009.07.001

Survey of Ophthalmology
Volume 55, Issue 2 , Pages 174-182, March 2010

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