PURPOSE: To compare distant and near visual acuity between patients submitted to bilateral nonsimultaneous facoemulsification and implantation of multifocal or monofocal intraocular lenses (IOL). METHODS: Twenty patients with bilateral multifocal IOL and 20 patients with monofocal IOL with best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/30 or better, in separate measurements, within the first 3 months after surgery. Distant and near visual acuities with and without correction, contrast sensitivity and glare test were registered. RESULTS: The uncorrected distant visual acuity of the monofocal group had a mean of 0.82 (SD±0.16) and 0.9 (SD ±0.12) in the multifocal group, p-value 0,001. Both groups had BCVA of 1. In the multifocal group, 75% had Jaegger (J) 1 and 100% had J3 or better for uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA). In the monofocal group 10% had J1 and 70% had J3 or better for UNVA. There was no significant difference between both groups regarding the contrast sensitivity test. Both groups had vision reduction in the glare test, which was more pronounced in the multifocal group. CONCLUSIONS: The corrected distant visual acuity in the multifocal and monofocal groups showed to be similar, although UNVA in the multifocal group was better than in the monofocal group. The contrast sensitivity test showed similar results in both groups, but the glare test showed more intense discomfort in the multifocal group.
Visual acuity; Lens implantation; Lenses; Phacoemulsification; Adult
