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18 February 2004
Channel NewsAsia
Severe myopia patients can now opt for new iris-supported lens implants
By Joanne Leow, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: People suffering from severe myopia can now look forward to a new iris-supported lens implant to restore their perfect vision.

Singapore has one of the highest myopia rates in the world, and doctors estimate some 15 percent of myopics have degrees of 1,000 or higher.

Most are not suitable candidates for corrective surgery like Lasik, and that is where the new implant fits in.

Pamela Ang, 32, has been myopic since she was six, and for the past 19 years, she has been suffering from severe myopia.

Before surgery, her left eye had myopia of 900 degrees, while her right eye was at 1,700 degrees.

Pamela Ang, Marketing Procurement Manager, said: "If I go on a lens, it is too high-powered difference between two eyes, and I will get headache. So there is no solution for me. And if I were to continue on, I am now at the age of 32, I cannot imagine the next 30 years, how high my power is going to go to, maybe one day I might go blind."

While Pamela's left eye was suitable for Lasik surgery, her right eye's high degree of myopia made it unsuitable for this standard procedure.

Dr Lee Hung Ming, Head of Refractive Surgery at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, said: "For people with severe myopia, their cornea might not be thick enough, because Lasik involves the thinning of the cornea so in this group of patients the lens implant surgery would be an alternative to correct myopia."

The diameter of the lens implant is less than one centimetre and its thickness is 0.2 millimetres.

It is made of a special polymer-based material which is very similar to the one used in cataract lens implants.

And according to doctors, it can pretty much be left in the eye permanently.

The lens is inserted into the eye and clipped onto the iris at two points.

The procedure only takes up to 40 minutes and costs $2,500 per eye, a price which includes the $900 lens implant.

So far, five people have received the implant in Singapore.

It is suitable for those with thin corneas or those who are suffering high myopia over 1,000 degrees.

One must be at least 21 years old, not pregnant and have had stable vision for a year.

Trials and clinical evaluations in Europe have seen 70 percent of severely myopic patients achieve a final power of 100 degrees of less.

Dr Lee added: "The potential side-effects for this surgery include inflammation of the eye and also infection. The the infection can be serious, but it is very, very rare. Other common side-effects include mild discomfort of the eye and also patients may see halos and glares at night. But this will usually last three to six months."

The procedure is reversible unlike Lasik surgery, the lens can be removed.

Lasik surgery costs $2,110 per eye.

Read the original story here.