Wolfe Eye Clinic continues to advance vision outcomes for Iowans with placement of a new advanced cataract lens which provides presbyopia-correction

DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wolfe Eye Clinic cataract surgeon, James Davison, M.D., recently placed Iowa's first AcrySof® IQ Vivity® intraocular lens (IOL) by Alcon during cataract surgery. Vivity® is a first-in-its-kind and considered a break-through for presbyopic patients who rely on reading glasses to focus on close objects. After placement of Vivity®, patients have reported high-quality vision at far and intermediate distances in addition to good functional up-close vision for reading with significantly reduced or eliminated dependency on eyeglasses. Wolfe Eye Clinic was selected as one of the few ophthalmology practices in the United States to begin offering this state-of-art technology in September and has continued to implant the lens through cataract surgery in October on qualified patients.

"This intraocular lens is a real game changer," said Dr. James Davison, Cataract & LASIK surgeon at Wolfe Eye Clinic. "Since 2003, most previous multifocal lenses have relied on diffractive rings molded into the surface of the plastic to create two primary focal points. This is very effective for most patients, but some may see rings around lights at night. They usually fade, but the Vivity lens does not utilize a diffractive design so the risk of seeing those rings is not increased and good vision is obtained at three tested distances."  

Cataracts are common with age and progressively cloud the eye's natural lens. This typically causes foggy, blurry and dull vision at all distances and driving at night becomes increasingly difficult. During cataract surgery, the natural lens containing the cataract is removed and replaced with an artificial intraocular lens, also known as an IOL.

Vivity® is the latest IOL to be released by Alcon, a leading global IOL manufacturer. It offers qualified patients an extended range of vision following cataract surgery and is the only presbyopia-correcting IOL with X-WAVE™ technology available on the market. Many patients that are diagnosed with cataracts already have presbyopia. While they are separate and unrelated conditions, both tend to develop with age. Cataracts progressively impact vision at all distances; presbyopia makes focusing on up-close objects such as books, menus and computers increasingly difficult overtime. With the new Vivity® lens, vision simultaneously impacted by both conditions can be addressed with one form of treatment.

As one Wolfe Eye Clinic patient stated after cataract surgery with implantation of the Vivity lens, "Medium distance is beautiful. Watching TV is just wonderful. I used to have three sets of glasses and now I have none."

Patient-reported outcomes indicate that Vivity® enables functional up-close vision and clinical trials found that over 90% of patients reported good or very good vision at arm's length and distance. While there are risks and possible side effects with any surgery, clinical trials also indicated low and comparable levels of side effects such as starbursts, halos and glares to the standard monofocal IOL most commonly placed.

While not all patients are candidates for all lens options including Vivity®, Wolfe Eye Clinic cataract surgeons perform comprehensive cataract evaluations to determine the best IOL option for each patient. Wolfe Eye Clinic looks forward to continuing to offer Iowans the latest in IOL technology and some of the best vision outcomes in the state.

ABOUT WOLFE EYE CLINIC

In medical practice since 1919, Wolfe Eye Clinic is a specialty medical eye care and surgical treatment center with main locations across Iowa in Ames, Cedar Falls, Fort Dodge, Hiawatha (Cedar Rapids), Iowa City, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Pleasant Hill, Spencer, Waterloo and West Des Moines.

Wolfe Eye Clinic ophthalmologists have specialized training in the areas of cataract and refractive surgery, corneal disease, glaucoma, pediatric eye disease and adult strabismus, oculofacial plastics and retinal disease. For over 100 years, Wolfe Eye Clinic has continuously innovated a higher standard of medical and surgical eye care for Iowans, providing patients with Better Vision for a Better Life®.

For more information, contact:
Kassandra Trenary, (641) 754-6200
[email protected]

SOURCE Wolfe Eye Clinic