Michiana Eye Center & Facial Plastic Surgery

Verisyse™ Phakic Intraocular Lens Implant

For extremely nearsighted people, -10 to -20 diopters of myopia (nearsightedness), intended for patients who are not suitable candidates for cornea-based refractive surgery like LASIK and PRK.

Depending upon the architecture of the eye, the size of the pupil and the thickness of the cornea, LASIK and PRK can be used to correct up to approximately -10 diopters of nearsightedness. Patients with higher degrees of nearsightedness often are not safe surgical candidates. In September of 2004, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first implantable lens designed to help people who are too nearsighted for LASIK and PRK. The Verisyse Phakic Intraocular Lens is a small microlens implant placed into the eye in an attempt to reduce the impact of very high degrees of nearsightedness. The Verisyse lens implant has been used in Europe for more than a dozen years with over 150,000 Verisyse lenses having been safely implanted worldwide.

The Verisyse lens is placed into the eye behind the cornea without removing the natural lens. It is then clipped to the front of the iris, or colored portion of the eye to hold it stable. The lens insertion is done through a small opening made at the edge of the cornea. The surgery is done on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia and takes less than one hour to complete. The recovery after implantation is quick with most people returning to their normal activities within one to two days.

It is important to understand that the Verisyse lens does not correct astigmatism which can cause blurry vision. Patients with symptomatic levels of astigmatism may still need thin glasses after Verisyse lens implantation. Many patients may also have the option of having LASIK to address their astigmatism and fine tune their vision after Verisyse lens implantation. As the implant corrects distance vision only, patients over the age of 40 will still need reading glasses after Verisyse lens implantation. It does nothing to alter the natural aging process of the human lens whereby we lose the ability to focus up close.