Refractive power calculations for intraocular lenses in the phakic eye.

To correct a severe refractive error and obviate thick spectacles or contact lenses, an intraocular lens can be placed in the anterior chamber in front of the normal crystalline lens as an alternative to keratorefractive procedures. The power of the intraocular lens may be determined from the recipient's spectacle correction, its vertex distance, and the corneal power in diopters. These measurements, combined with an intraocular lens constant based on its location within the anterior chamber, provide the appropriate power of the intraocular lens. These formulas were applied to seven Baikoff anterior chamber lenses and three Momose anterior chamber lenses in phakic eyes. The mean absolute prediction error was 0.42 (standard deviation, +/- 0.60) for the Baikoff lenses and 0.57 (+/- 0.64) for the Momose lenses. The accuracy of the measurements is limited by the accuracy of the preoperative refraction, the measurement of the corneal power, and the restoration of the preoperative refractive power of the cornea.