The Alcon Clareon® PanOptix® is a trifocal intra-ocular lens implant (IOL) used in cataract surgery and Refractive Lens Exchange (RLE), to give maximums spectacles independence and clear vision for distance, intermediate, and near.
Dr. Raviv’s Take:
Pros:
- Great range of vision at three zones - from distance (driving/TV) to intermediate (computer/car dashboard) to near (phone/book).
- Typically eliminates the need for any postoperative glasses - 91% of Dr. Raviv’s patients report not using any glasses. A small minority of patients still require light readers for fine print.
Cons:
- There are some nighttime halo’s around street lights and headlights. Most nighttime drivers notice some halo’s, but it doesn’t affect their ability to drive with clarity of the road, signs, and their dashboard or GPS. About 2% of night drivers state that the halo’s are severe enough to affect their night driving.
- The lens has three focal points - at distance (more than 6 feet), intermediate (about 23 inches) and near (approx 15 inches). There is some dropoff of vision at the 2-4 foot range - where musicians, artists, museum goers really need sharp clarity. Sometimes we pair the Panoptix with a Symfony in the other eye to achieve this full range.
I place this IOL in cataract surgery patients (or RLE patients) that desire the most spectacle independence and have a healthy eye with 20/20 visual potential. This is a very well tolerated multifocal IOL.
I explain to all multifocal IOL patients that because every person heals differently, some outliers may require a touch up or enhancement procedure to get to their final vision. At the Eye Center of New York, about 3% of our multifocal patients will benefit from a laser vision fine tuning (such as PRK) at about 3 months postop. Also,about 0.5% of multifocal patients (1 in 200) may require an IOL exchange because their brain and eye and multifocal optics may not mesh well. Typically I then swap out the multifocal IOL to a monofocal, though we can sometimes swap to an EDOF.
