Purpose: To report the results of a 1-year follow-up analysis of the safety and efficacy of the Flexivue Microlens corneal inlay.
Methods: The Flexivue Microlens corneal inlay was implanted in the nondominant eye of patients with emmetropic presbyopia (a spherical equivalent of -0.5 to 1.00 diopter) after the creation of a 300-μm deep stromal pocket, using a femtosecond laser. The patients were followed up according to a clinical protocol involving refraction, anterior segment imaging analysis (Oculyzer), and optical quality analysis (OPD-Scan).
Results: Thirty-one patients were enrolled in this ongoing study. The mean age was 50.7 years (range 45-60 yrs), and 70% of the patients were female. The mean uncorrected near visual acuity improved to Jaeger 1 in 87.1% of the eyes treated with the inlays. All eyes improved 4 lines at all visits. The binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity was 20/20 in all patients. Ninety percent of the patients reported that their near vision was good or excellent. Some of the patients (16.1%) lost more than 3 lines of corrected distance visual acuity. At the latest follow-up, induction of a corneal spherical aberration to improve near visual acuity was statistically significant. No other intraoperative or postoperative complication was noted.
Conclusions: The Flexivue Microlens provided patients with improved near vision, as a result of a negative spherical aberration. A significant loss of corrected distance visual acuity in the operated eyes was observed. Overall, this intracorneal inlay was an effective alternative to other procedures for the correction of presbyopia.