Aphakia is a condition where the natural crystalline lens has been removed from the eye. Aphakia is most often found in patients who have undergone cataract extraction. With the advent of intraocular lenses (IOLs), which are implanted in the eye after cataract extraction, aphakia is less common in the adult patient. However, aphakia may be more common among pediatric patients due to bilateral congenital cataracts.1
Congenital cataracts
The incidence rate of congenital cataracts in the US has been reported to be 1.7 per 10,000 births.2 In these cases, a cataract extraction must be performed and appropriate refractive correction must also be provided to avoid the development of amblyopia. Contact lenses are the most commonly used means to provide refractive correction until the eye has developed and sufficiently stabilized to allow implantation of an IOL.
Click here to see the lens CIBA Vision Specialty Lens Group offers for aphakia: Hydrocurve® II (Aphakic)References
Zetterstrom C, Lundvall A, Kugelberg M. Cataracts in children. J Cataract Refract Surg 2005;31(4):824-40.
Walline, J. Children: An Untapped Population of Contact Lens Wearers. Contact Lens Spectrum, February 2002:26.
