Aphakia Treatment & Management in Chicago, IL

What Is Aphakia?

The term aphakia is the eye condition in which there is no lens in one or both of the eyes. The lens of the eye sits behind the pupil and iris, and focuses the light that comes into your eye and sends the focused image to the retina at the back of the eye. When the lens of the eye is absent, the vision will be blurry. There are several reasons a person may have an aphakic eye. Cataract surgery, and injuries can damage your lens. In rare cases, you can be born without a lens in one or both of the eyes.

The Difference Between Aphakia And Pseudophakia

Aphakia refers to not having a lens in your eye. Pseudophakia refers to having an intraocular lens placed in the eye; this occurs when the lens is removed during cataract surgery. Cataracts make the natural lens of the eye cloudy, during surgery the cloudy lens is removed and replaced with an intraocular lens.

What Are The Symptoms Of Aphakia?

Aphakia is common, but is most common is people who have surgery to remove their cataracts. There are several signs of aphakia, the symptoms can include:

• Blurred vision in one or both eyes
• Difficulty seeing objects that are near and objects that are far away
• Difficulty making out colors, colors may seem faded or  less bright and bold
• Having an iris that jiggles, also called iridodonesis
• Problems with depth perception, and determining how close or far away an object is

Types of Aphakia Treatment

There are several types of aphakia treatments, your doctor will discuss which option is best suited to your situation, and your lifestyle.

Light Adjustable Lens Surgery (LAL)

Light Adjustable lens surgery is for the treatment of cataracts. When the natural lens of the eye becomes cloudy, it is removed and replaced with a new intraocular lens.

Glasses For Aphakia

If you are missing lenses in both your eyes, your doctor may recommend wearing glasses. These glasses are often heavy, may cause you to perceive straight lines as curvy, and may cause problems with depth perception. For these reasons, aphakia glasses are often not the top choice of patients.

Aphakic Contact Lenses

Contact lenses for aphakia are very high powered. When utilized for infants, the lenses can be left in for several days at a time, but some will need to be changed daily.

What Are The Common Aphakia Causes?

There are several aphakia causes, including cataract surgery, injury, and congenital medical conditions. Let's take a look at each of these causes:

• Cataract Surgery: is the most common cause of aphakia. During cataract surgery your surgeon will remove the cloudy natural lens and replace it with an artificial lens, or IOL. These intraocular lenses are used in most cataract surgeries. 
• Congenital Aphakia: This occurs when aphakia is present at birth. Babies can be born and have an eye without a lens. Congenital aphakia is rare, and can occur along with other eye problems that are present at birth. There are two types of congenital aphakia, primary and secondary. In primary congenital aphakia, the lens of the eye never develops at all. In secondary congenital aphakia the lens begins to develop but never fully does. There may be lens fragments present, but no developed lens.
• Traumatic Aphakia: This will occur when an eye injury or wound results in the loss of the lens.
  

How Is Aphakia Diagnosed?

Your doctors at the Kraff Eye Institute will be able to diagnose aphakia during a comprehensive eye exam. During your eye exam the doctor will look at your medical history, and your previous eye history, including any previous surgeries you may have had, this includes cataract surgery. The doctor will also use a slit lamp (a lamp with a microscope) to examine your eyes. This allows the doctor to confirm if you have an eye without a lens, and are indeed aphakic.