I recently had cataract surgery. They gave me a card describing the implanted lens:
MODEL: SN60WF
POWER: 20.5D
LENGTH (ØT): 13.0mm
OPTIC: (ØB) 6.0mm
SN: 10980830 007
What does this all mean? And is this just a generic lens to rid my eye of the cataract, or should it also correct my vision problems?
The “model” is the model number. The “power” is the refractive power of the lens in diopters. The “length” is the length of the lens in the superior-to-inferior axis (i.e. up-down.) “Optic” is probably the optic zone, or the usable zone of the lens; not all of the diameter of the lens is used for vision, which is fine as your pupils are probably going to not let light in through the peripheral zone anyway.
SN: No freaking idea. That’s a lot of numbers after it. 007 probably means you have the same type of lens implant as James Bond…so congrats.
As far as whether this lens gets rid of your vision problems – also no idea. There’s no way to know unless you provide a whole host of other data, such as corneal refracting power and eye length, and even then we’d probably need the computer program your surgeon used to determine the lens power. But remember no implanted lens to date can get rid of every vision problem. You probably should have discussed this with the surgeon at some point prior to having the lens implanted in your eye…
Oh, and that last sentence honestly wasn’t mean to be snarky…some surgeons are tough to get an explanation from, for whatever reason.
SN is probably the serial number.
My wife just finished having both eyes done. As I understood it, the implanted lens is chosen to give acceptable to good distance vision.
You may need reading glasses and if you have astigmatism, you may need glasses to correct that.
The doctor should have gone over the different types of lenses before the surgery. I went with a family member to the consultation before cataract surgery. The doctor explained that non-corrective lenses have been around longer and have fewer problems associated with them. With non-corrective lenses, you still need to wear glasses after surgery. Corrective lenses are newer and there is a slightly larger chance of having issues. Given these choices, the patient should be able to choose what kind of lenses (s)he wants.
You should call your doctor and ask what kind of lenses you have.
Coincidentally, I just had bilateral cataract surgery. The lens implanted were to improve my vision and make it monocular (no reading glasses, just one eye slightly nearsighted for reading). The right eye (the nearsighted one) was done 3 weeks ago. The left eye two weeks ago. So far, my vision has not corrected to 20/20. The doctor said it takes time. (I see him again Thursday.)
I cannot find the card for my right eye, but my left eye gives the model number and SN (serial number, I assume), power 22.0D [D is apparently for diopters, and I assume it means 2.2, but I don’t know and the doctor ran away before I could ask him), the length is 13 mm, and the optic is 6 mm. So it is the same as yours, but my diopter correction is 2.2 not 2.0, if that is, indeed what that means.
During the preoperative exams, the optometrist said that I would not be a good candidate for monovision as usually one has to wear contact lenses first, giving monovision. I told him I often take off my glasses and that I’m used to monovision, since my right eye is two diopters worse than the left. My left eye is dominant, and I have sometimes taken off my glasses to read, as reading without the glasses previously was sometimes easier without my glasses. The optometrist conferred with the opthalmologist, and the opthalmologist OK’d me for monovision.
My case was complicated because in 1991 I had RK (radial keratotomy). He had to use additional instruments, including an “orange light” to correct for that. Anyway, he said that if it has to be redone, he would re-do it. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but this aside does not answer your question. I gave what I thought is the answer in my second paragraph.
Actually, 20 D makes more sense than 2.0 D for the power of the lens. Remember that we’re talking about total dioptric power and not refractive error. The whole eye has about 60 D of refractive power, of which 2/3 is given by the cornea (approximately) and about 1/3 from the lens.
When I consulted with the surgeon a couple of months before surgery, she played down the idea of a corrective lens, saying that contrary to most people’s expectation, it doesn’t provide perfect vision. I told her I understand that, but I’d still like better close-up vision even if it’s not perfect. Now that I have the implant . . . of course the cataract is gone, which is a blessing, but I’m having vision problems that I didn’t have before, like streaks coming out of lights, and I think my close-up vision is even a little worse than it had been. And my reading glasses give me the same vision as they did pre-surgery, which leads me to suspect that the lens is not corrective.
Anyway, I have an appointment to see her Monday.
You should consider getting new reading glasses. The surgery may have changed your prescription a little.
I agree you probably don’t have corrective lenses. My understanding is not much can be done about vision problems after surgery. The normal approach is to wait while your brain adjusts to the new lenses. If after several months, the problems persist and are severe enough, you can do another surgery to change the lenses. My relative initially had problems but ultimately got used to the lenses and is fine now.
So my failure to see 20/20 is all in my head?
Panache, wouldn’t they have told you if the lens was corrective. So, Cromulent, 20 D is an ordinary implant, being 1/3 of 60? In which case my 22 only gives slight correction. Possible because my left eye was better and I think the myopia was plano, but with about -2 stigmatism. I’ll have to find my card for my right eye, which had a corrective lens of +2 with also about -2 stigmatism.
I found the card for my right eye. It has an entirely different format. It does not contain any power. It states capsular tension ring. PMMA CQ UV. OT=13mm-11mm. ACTR 11. Lot AKKBFC. SN 1522236. It also has a coding bar on it, which my left eye card doesn’t.
Can anybody explain some of this to me?
“Capsular tension ring” is an additional means of stabilizing the lens. PMMA is the material used to make your particular lens. UV probably means it has UV blocking properties, always a good thing. OT is still the length. Not sure about ACTR. Lot is the lot number, SN as friedo posted above is probably the serial number.
Why would I need UV protection if I’ve already had cataracts? And why just the right? Can the implanted lens become cloudy, too? Why doesn’t it show the power?
The UV protection protects the retina from UV light; the natural lens provides this function before you have cataract surgery to remove it. In all likelihood your left lens blocks UV light also, but for whatever reason it wasn’t written on the card. The implanted lens won’t become cloudy, but the posterior capsule, which is left behind during the surgery to stabilize the lens implant, could potentially become cloudy.
I’m not sure why it doesn’t show the power, but rest assured it has one.
Is the posterior capsule left behind when a capsule tension ring is inserted?
How is your vision? I read that you were also an artist; that’s how I found this post from a previous one. Did you get aspheric monofocal lenses?
I just got my left eye done a week ago, set at an intermediate distance. My right eye is to be done next week at a closer distance up to the point where I still have good depth perception. I’m supposed to wear progressive lens glasses afterward, which is something completely new to me. I’ve been wearing nearsighted-correcting glasses since I was 9. I’m 24 now, which is pretty young to get cataract surgery. But to make a long story short, mine were medically induced from steroids and radiation treatments being a leukemia/stem cell transplant survivor.
How has the vision change effected your art? I don’t want the new vision to steer my artistic career aspirations.
There is a helpful eye care forum I found that actual opthamologists and healthcare workers answer questions. The search feature is very good to see similar situations. I’ve learned a ton (but have been pretty obsessed with this stuff the past 4 days) - what kind of problems the different IOL options have.
My posterior capsule became cloudy in my Left eye approx 10 months after my cataract surgery. Went in Monday for an evaluation and confirmation. The Dr. used a laser to “burn” a small hole in the capsule.
No more problem!
Does anyone know the size of the hole created? I know it may vary from case to case, but what’s the average size? I’m guessing a few mm.
I got the card for my right eye and it shows 19.5 D. My left eye was the better eye, and the lens is 22 D. My right eye was not planned to have 20/20 because I’ll use it for reading, but it was quite a bit worse than my left. So, why does the lens in my right eye have less of a correction than the left?
It depends on the length of your eyeball. Your natural eyes and lenses are not duplicates of each other. Mine were done 18 years ago. I specified that I’d like to see at distance having been a “4-eye” all my life. Due to really long eyeballs, they couldn’t get me all the way back to 20/20 but I could pass the driving eye test and so could wear “cool” sunglasses for the first time in my life.
I had one lens swaped about a month ago due to the old lens moving. I got re-measured for length as you change over time and the measurement process is more sophisticated now. Just a little laser on the back membrane and I’ll be good as new next month.
General comments:
You’ll probably have some streaking/sparkling due to overhead lights, very common. I believe all the replacement lenses have the UV coating built in.