Mayo surgeons using new lens for cataract surgery that filters harmful light rays

Tuesday, September 02, 2003

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 2, 2003 — Ophthalmologists at Mayo Clinic are among the first in the area to implant a new, blue-light filtering lens in patients having cataract surgery. "Chronic exposure to light is one of the things we think causes degenerative eye diseases," says Dr. James Bolling, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. "We've known for a long time that ultraviolet light causes damage. But blue light, which is part of the visible spectrum, could actually be damaging to the retina over a long period of time." The retina is the thin layer of tissue at the back of the eye where images are formed.

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The new lens, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June, is the first one designed to filter out harmful ultraviolet light and potentially damaging wavelengths of blue light as well. Bolling suspects use of the new, yellow-tinted lens will soon become widespread, especially with younger patients who can look forward to many more years of exposure to sunlight. He says there's evidence that exposure to blue light may lead to macular degeneration, a loss of central vision that can be quite debilitating.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's normal lens. Cataracts usually develop in both eyes, but not necessarily at the same rate. Eye trauma, diabetes and even certain medications may cause a cataract to form, but most develop as part of the aging process. Bolling says some people develop cataracts earlier than others, but if a person lives long enough it's almost certain he or she will develop cataracts.

How are cataracts treated? Surgery is the only way to remove them. So it's a question of when and not if a person with cataracts could benefit from the simple surgical procedure to remove one and implant an artificial lens. "The decision is really driven by how the cataract affects their activities and how disabled they are," Bolling says. "If there's something they want to do, and can't because of their vision, then it's time to have a cataract removed."

Mayo Clinic ophthalmologists in Jacksonville perform about 1,000 cataract removal surgeries every year. It is the second most common surgical procedure performed at Mayo. The 15- to 30-minute procedure is routinely done at Mayo's outpatient surgical center. The surgeon puts numbing drops in the patient's eye, makes a tiny incision in the cornea and removes the clouded lens. He then folds and inserts an acrylic lens through the incision and positions it where the original one was. Vision improves as the eye recovers from the surgery, and most patients quickly resume normal activities. Typically, patients must wait a week to a month before having a cataract removed from their other eye.

Mayo ophthalmologists plan on using the new blue-light filtering lens in every procedure, unless the patient has already had a clear lens implanted in the other eye.

Bolling says although the new lens has a yellow tint, patients will not notice it and others will not be able to see it. "You would think maybe it would cause a problem by making things look funny or a different color," he says. "But it turns out this lens has almost the exact absorption spectrum of the natural lens we remove from a 50-year-old patient."

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