patients’ daily activities, including driving at night. In a prospective case series study, all patients who underwent bilateral TECNIS SynergyTM implantation achieved complete spectacle freedom for distance vision, with only 3.7% requiring glasses for intermediate or near vision tasks.11 Although 52.4% of patients reported experiencing halos under low-light conditions, 19% of them only experienced halos occasionally whereas 77.3% of the patients had never or occasionally experienced glare.11 The findings of the study also substantiated the outstanding continuous range of vision covering 33 cm and beyond. “Personally, I find that other trifocals do not provide near vision enough. TECNIS SynergyTM, on the other hand, delivers very good near vision compared with most other trifocals,” said Dr Fam Han Bor. In his practice, patients are often more concerned about near vision than dysphotopsia. “While my patients who were implanted with TECNIS SynergyTM have had good near vision, they also experienced glare and halos. However, they often think that the ‘trade-off’ is worth it and are satisfied with the near vision outcomes as they can get use to glare and halos over time.” “The visual performance of TECNIS SynergyTM is similar to other trifocals that cover 40 cm and beyond, except that bilateral TECNIS SynergyTM implantation gives good near vision even at 30–35 cm, especially under dim lighting conditions. My patients are quite comfortable with the glare and halos, although I have had one patient with underlying posterior polar cataract who is unable to tolerate glare and halos,” Dr Ramamurthy recounted. He advised surgeons to approach or counsel patients fitting TECNIS SynergyTM in a similar way as they would with other trifocals. The right patients for IOLs are often those who seek spectacle independence.3 “Our current cataract patients never wish to wear glasses, considering their capabilities to multitask and their modern lifestyle,” said Dr Rojanapongpun. Generation B and Generation X females who have strong desire for spectacle independence and near vision are Dr Rojanapongpun’s ideal patients for TECNIS SynergyTM. “Indeed, Asian patients need strong near vision as they tend to hold their reading materials at a closer distance due to proportionally shorter arms,” he added. The experts attributed their preference for TECNIS SynergyTM over other trifocals to its continuous range of vision and outstanding near vision. “I do like both PanOptix® and TECNIS SynergyTM, but the reading vision with TECNIS SynergyTM far exceeds that of PanOptix®. I find that there is a gap between the vision for reading and viewing computer with PanOptix®. However, the continuous range of vision with TECNIS SynergyTM helps my patients cope better with close visual tasks,” said Dr Robert Paul. “Another issue that concerns me with PanOptix® is glistening – many of my patients undergo lensectomy and clear lens extractions for cosmetic reasons and I do not wish to implant a lens that will potentially give glistening. This will affect the quality of vision in 10–15 years and resulting in the need for lens removal. Having said that, TECNIS SynergyTM is my preferred IOL for the better quality of vision and its near vision performance,” Dr Paul continued. Sharing his personal experience in implanting TECNIS SynergyTM, Dr Paul also advised surgeons to address postoperative residual astigmatism to maximize patients’ distance vision as it is less forgiving compared with other trifocals. Some patients may experience reduced quality of distance vision during the early postoperative period, he noted, but they eventually gained 6/6 or 6/5 vision with little to no refractive error. Most experts agreed that TECNIS SynergyTM can offer the best near vision needs for Asian patients amongst other PCIOLs. Achieving spectacle independence outweighs the issues patients may face with glare and halos, given that glare and halos can be easily manage. All experts also agreed that TECNIS SynergyTM allows greater ability to read fine print and at closer reading distances compared with other trifocals. Most importantly, TECNIS SynergyTM can fulfil the unique vision needs of Asian patients, whose reading distance is typically at 33 cm.1,6 “Achieving spectacle independence outweighs the issues patients may face with glare and halos, given that glare and halos can be easily managed.” Dr. Clinical pearls on achieving high patient satisfactionwith TECNIS SynergyTM Continuous-Range-of-Vision IOL
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