An 85-year-old man with a history of type 2 diabetes, pseudoexfoliation (PXF) in both eyes, and tamsulosin use was referred for the evaluation of a dense cataract in the right eye and a subluxated intraocular lens (IOL) in the left eye. Unfortunately, his surgery in the left eye was complicated by diffuse zonulopathy. The referring surgeon placed a 3-piece IOL in the sulcus. However, the passively fixated 3-piece IOL moved inferiorly causing monocular diplopia for over a year. Because the patient was pleased with the IOL immediately postoperatively, a refixation procedure was performed in the form of sulcus placement with iris suture fixation in the left eye. Fortunately, the iris-fixated IOL in the left eye has remained well centered and stable without cystoid macular edema (CME) or chronic inflammation for over 8 months. The patient is on no ocular medications and has no family history of glaucoma. He now needs cataract surgery in the right eye and is extremely apprehensive because of his difficult course in the left eye.
The corrected distance visual acuity is 20/70 in the right eye and 20/25 in the left eye. Intraocular pressures (IOPs) measure 20 mm Hg in the right eye and 14 mm Hg in the left eye by Goldmann tonometry. Pachymetry is 536 µm in the right eye and 543 µm in the left eye. Pupils are round with minimal reactivity and without a relative afferent pupillary defect. Extraocular motility is normal in both eyes, and confrontation visual fields is full in both eyes. Gonioscopy reveals an angle open to the pigmented trabecular meshwork (PTM) in the right eye and the ciliary body in the left eye with 1+ PTM and without peripheral anterior synechia in both eyes. The retinal nerve fiber layer and macular optical coherence tomography are normal in both eyes.
On slitlamp examination, pertinent findings include pseudoexfoliative changes at the pupillary margin with poor dilation of 3.5 mm in both eyes; the anterior chamber (AC) is shallow but adequate in the right eye and deep and quiet with rare pigmented cells in the left eye. There is a 5+ nuclear sclerotic cataract with pseudoexfoliative changes on the anterior capsule and no obvious phacodonesis in the right eye and a 3-piece posterior chamber IOL in the sulcus fixated to the iris with 10-0 polypropylene sutures at 6 and 12 o'clock without pseudophacodonesis in the left eye. Dilated fundus examination reveals a cup-to-disc ratio of 0.4 with healthy neuroretinal rims in both eyes, posterior vitreous detachments in both eyes, and no evidence of diabetic retinopathy in both eyes. All other findings are unremarkable.
How would you counsel this patient regarding his risk factors for surgery in the right eye? What surgical maneuvers would you use to remove the cataract safely? How would you stabilize the IOL if the capsule bag becomes compromised due to zonulopathy?
