title: Keratolenticuloplasty: arcuate keratotomy for cataract surgery and astigmatism.
abstract: Cataract surgery has evolved into a procedure in which pre-existing refractive errors can be corrected simultaneously to improve uncorrected visual acuity following surgery. This paper describes keratolenticuloplasty, a new technique of clear corneal arcuate keratotomy for cataract surgery that corrects pre-existing astigmatic errors at the time of cataract extraction. This technique uses topical anesthesia, a single pair of arcuate corneal incisions placed on the steepest axis of astigmatism, one-step capsulorhexis, hydrodissection, intercapsular phacoemulsification, and injection of an elastic intraocular lens within the capsular bag. The technique has been used in over 1,000 patients with follow-up of 24 months. Uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better with no associated complications was achieved in 96% of patients.
authors.affiliation: Orange Grove Center for Corrective Eye Surgery, Tucson, Arizona 85704, USA.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kershner
mesh_terms: D000772:Anesthesia, Local; D001251:Astigmatism / Q000601:surgery*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D003315:Cornea / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007646:Keratotomy, Radial / Q000379:methods*; D007910:Lenses, Intraocular; D014792:Visual Acuity