Viewpoint
The LASIK Effect -- on Cataract Surgery?
FROM THE CHIEF MEDICAL EDITOR

You bet. Remember when a post-op "IOL surprise" could easily have been 7D, and missing our mark by only 2D was considered an accomplishment? Well, that was before our patients were accustomed to 20/20 vision, or better, courtesy of LASIK. It was also before huge improvements in IOL materials and design, not to mention an increase in the variety of lenses available to us. Today, approximately 40 IOLs are used in the United States.

Now that our patients have seen the excellent visual results their friends achieved with refractive surgery, it barely occurs to them that they won't have the same results when it's time for cataract surgery. And now, armed with so many exciting new technologies and a wonderful selection of IOLs, we should rise to meet the challenge posed by patients' ever-increasing expectations.

Checking in with the best

It may have been a while since you've re-evaluated your lenses of choice or added a new lens to your armamentarium -- especially when the rapid rate of technology advancement makes "a while" a pretty short time. That's where this month's cover story comes in. We asked a number of stellar surgeons how they match patients with IOLs, which lenses they consider their "workhorses," when they look to other lenses, and which lenses they prefer for different age groups and patients who pose specific disease or refractive challenges.

We have a lot to gain from reading what they had to say. The fusion of cataract and refractive surgery continues, and we've got LASIK-like patient expectations to meet.