Alcon Data Highlights Benefits of Specific AcrySof Models

Alcon has announced the publication of the National Ophthalmology Database (NOD) audit by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth), which collects data on cataract surgery performed in England, Wales and Guernsey with the aim of providing benchmarked reports on performance for surgical centers and individual surgeons to improve patient care.

This publication was focused on cataract surgery outcomes, notably a study of post-cataract posterior capsule opacification (PCO), analyzing over 600,000 operations from 58 centers. Comparative data on 1-, 3-, and 5-year PCO rates were published suggesting clinicians should identify IOL or other modifiable risk factors that impact PCO rates as this will offer substantial benefits to patients.

“Alcon’s commitment to the National Ophthalmology Database demonstrates how partnerships between industry and RCOphth can be invaluable in sustaining projects that make a real difference to patient care,” Bernie Chang, President of RCOphth, said in a company news release. “By working together, including funding from trusts, NOD can continue to produce independent, high quality performance outcomes and drive improvements which can result in considerable savings for an already over- burdened NHS.”

The data published supports other existing clinical evidence of the outstanding benefits of specific models of Alcon’s AcrySof IOLs in reducing the risk of PCO and its treatment Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy [2,3]. Notably, the data shows that at 3 years, the overall PCO YAG treatment rate for Monofocal Single Piece IOLs was 7.4%, while for the AcrySof IQ lens the associated rate was just 2.8%. There was also a clear distinction between hydrophobic and hydrophilic intraocular lenses; the associated PCO YAG treatment rate for hydrophilic IOLs at 3 years was 14.9%,[4] which is greater than five times higher than the associated rate for the AcrySof IQ hydrophobic lens. This latest data offers additional confidence for clinicians and payers in choosing the specific models within the AcrySof family of intraocular lenses, which have been implanted in over 125 million eyes worldwide [5], according to Alcon.