crystal lens and retina detatchment

[kfenske]

Has anyone had the crstal lens implanted and years later had a retina detachment?

[SoftwareDeveloper]

I should have said that even if the paper were accurate it is still only a 3.7% rate which is still low, and the issue is mostly academic if you already have the lenses, there is no way to know if you'd have had a detachment anyway.

I don't see the actual paper the article I link to above mentions, but  I should have said at first glance at the description in that article it appears likely that even aside from potential biases that the margin of error (which the article doesn't give) from such a small study may be too large to draw any conclusions   (but I'm not curious enough to actually confirm that) but that regardless given the potential flaws in the study its only suggestive of a possible connection. I'd want to see another study before taking seriously the idea there is a connection.

I hadn't seen any other work on the issue, which is part of why Is suspect it shouldn't make a difference (aside from the fact that the lens isn't in contact with the retina so it seemed unlikely to begin with) or there would likely have been a better study confirming its results (though the absence of evidence of an issue isn't evidence of absence of one, it calls into question why it isn't there, given the number of people getting the Crystalens).

Once an idea gets into people's heads there may be confirmation bias in their anecdotal observations about it, so one possibly flawed study can lead to misleading assumptions spread around the rumor mill.

[SoftwareDeveloper]

I should note that there is at least one study that suggested a higher risk of retinal detachment, but the risk was still small, and there are reasons to be skeptical of its conclusions (unfortunately a decent minority of   studies turn out to be statistical glitches and are never replicated):

http://www.healio.com/ophthalmology/retina-vitreous/news/print/ocular-surgery-news/%7Baa8e3a2c-eb55-4e35-91dd-07e2d8c21032%7D/accommodating-iol-may-be-associated-with-higher-rate-of-postop-retinal-detachment
"This is an interesting and thought-provoking study. However, it is a relatively small study and has the all the unintended biases of a retrospective chart review. For instance, surgical skill and complications may have biased the results, particularly if the surgeons placed the IOL they preferred. More YAG laser, which is a known (and not controlled) risk factor for retinal detachment, was performed on the Crystalens group. The physiologic explantation of a larger IOL with more movement and more potential traction on the peripheral vitreous base is an attractive hypothesis. Yet, we must be cautious and not jump to conclusions for the reasons mentioned above. This is an important study with significant potential implications, but its outcomes require further confirmation from a large, well-designed, prospective study."

[SoftwareDeveloper]

I'm guessing you mean a Crystalens IOL implanted after cataract surgery. The choice of  IOL  shouldn't impact the risk of retinal detachment. Having the Cryalens shouldn't impact treatment methods, they  should be the same as if you had a monofocal IOL (since the Crystlens has a single focus, even if that focus might perhaps be able to shift) or still had your natural lens.  

Unfortunately cataract surgery does increase the risk of retinal detachment, even a number of years later. The risk is still tiny however, but unfortunately some people have the bad luck to be the "statistic". The risk is higher for high myopes, but still low  (not as high as some figures around the net which are based on very old studies done before modern small incision surgical techniques and phaco arose) and there is no way to know for sure if you would have had a detachment anyway.