Sunalp YAG laser lens technique can be used to mark corneal axis for toric IOL placement

Cataract surgery has clearly advanced in technology, surgical techniques, IOLs and ophthalmic viscosurgical devices. This means our patients are seeing much better than their parents did after cataract surgery. With such advances in cataract surgery, there is an expectation of excellent visual quality that the surgeon needs to provide in order to attain postoperative patient satisfaction.Postoperative visual quality is dependent on multiple factors, including ocular and corneal surface, quality of tear film, clear cornea without significant astigmatism, optimal IOL and absence of vitreous loss. When addressing these medical and surgical variables, astigmatism greater than 0.5 D often comes to the forefront and can play a role in degradation of visual quality. The extrapolated prevalence of astigmatism in the U.S. is estimated at more than 48 million people, based on Census Bureau population estimates from 2004. About 15% to 50% of cataract patients have associated corneal astigmatism. Therefore, astigmatism correction becomes an integral part of cataract surgery if the patient elects to have it surgically corrected. Such correction of astigmatism can be performed either on the cornea or intraocularly using a toric IOL. With the use of a toric IOL, proper IOL alignment to the selected axis is of paramount importance. Various methods of axis marking on the cornea have been developed.