title: Incidence of posterior capsule opacification following the implantation of a foldable hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens: a 4 year follow-up study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the incidence of posterior capsule opacification (PCO) four years after the implantation of a hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens (IOL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-eight randomly selected eyes from 58 patients were analyzed four years after phacoemulsification and Ioflex IOL implantation. The patients underwent an ophthalmic examination to detect PCO and a detailed medical history was obtained. The patients' charts were reviewed for their corrected distance visual acuity prior to the IOL implantation, as well as for one month postoperatively. The Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of patients without PCO was 74.6 ± 9.5 years, compared to 70.3 ± 15 years in patients with PCO. Four years after surgery, 39 of the 58 eyes (67%) had detectable PCO and 24 eyes (41.3%) had decreased visual acuity (VA) due to PCO. These patients were referred for Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy. Three patients (5.1%) had decreased VA due to glaucoma, IOL opacification, or age-related macular degeneration. Twelve eyes (20.7%) presented mild PCO with unchanged VA. Systemic arterial hypertension was reported by 45% of the patients, and in 3.5% of these cases this was associated with diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study found the incidence of PCO to be 67% four years after phacoemulsification and Ioflex IOL implantation.
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Priscilla de Almeida
authors.initials: Pde A
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.affiliation: Fundação Leiria de Andrade, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Delano
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jorge
authors.affiliation: Fundação Altino Ventura, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Camila Vieira
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: Fundação Altino Ventura, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna Vieira
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: Fundação Altino Ventura, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Wagner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.affiliation: Fundação Altino Ventura, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Carvalho
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcony Rodrigues
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Santhiago
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Newton
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kara-Junior
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000368:Aged; D058442:Capsule Opacification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D019654:Lens Implantation, Intraocular / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D014792:Visual Acuity
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins