Vision without glasses for hyperopic, presbyopic patients!

The search for a cure for presbyopia has been as much sought after as Ponce de Leon’s fountain of youth.

If you are farsighted or cannot see up close, and are now beginning to notice your distance vision isn’t quite as good as it once was, the Healthy Eye has some very exciting news! PRELEX offers people who are farsighted the ability to have clearer vision at near, far and intermediate distances.

PRELEX is a term used to describe presbyopic lens exchange with a multifocal intraocular lens. While the application of the technology is new, the surgical techniques employed are proven successful over many years of use.

Your cornea (the outside part of the eye) and the eye’s natural lens (inside your eye) work together to focus light that comes into your eye. The lens, which is flexible when you are younger, becomes increasingly inflexible as you mature, often after you’ve passed the age of forty. It’s a little harder to clearly see the face of your wristwatch, make out those road signs on the highway before you pass your exit, or even read the fine print on your TV, without glasses. Consequently, you have a difficult time focusing on objects, no matter what distance they are from your eyes. This condition is known as presbyopia.

The onset of presbyopia has traditionally meant that you are relegated to using glasses for clear vision.

What’s more, even those individuals who’ve received laser vision correction will eventually become presbyopic and need glasses or contacts to restore their full range of sight.

PRELEX can improve clarity and provide a sharper focus to your vision at all distances - up close, far away and in between. This works best in hyperopic presbyopes, meaning those individuals who are farsighted and have lost the optimal focusing ability of their eye’s natural lens. Presbyopes typically wear glasses for close-up work or reading.

The PRELEX procedure involves replacing your eye’s natural lens with a state-of-the-art, multi-focal, AMO Array intraocular lens.

Lens implants of the past utilized monofocal lenses that only improved your vision either near or far, but could not improve for both distances. Monofocal lenses left you still relying on glasses for whichever distances did not get corrected.

PRELEX utilizes a multifocal lens. Multifocal lenses are made of silicone and have 5 concentric circles or zones of vision. The center zone improves distance vision. As the pupil widens, more zones come into focus and allow clear sight at various distances.

Most people notice an immediate improvement in their vision after PRELEX. In addition, their near, intermediate and distance vision continues to improve for three to six months after their procedure.

PRELEX is a modern, state of the art vision correction procedure. It is performed on an outpatient basis.

On the day of surgery you will receive a local anesthetic for the eye. The surgeon will then make a micro-opening (less than 3 millimeters!) in your cornea and will use a special ultrasonic instrument to separate your natural lens into tiny pieces and then remove those pieces. The small size of the opening means that you won’t need stitches because it seals itself shut when the procedure is completed.

You will typically go home and relax for the remainder of the day. Many patients report an immediate improvement in their vision after PRELEX. You can resume your normal activities within a day or two.

Dr. Maritz will study how your first eye adapts after the procedure, and will use that information to determine how to provide maximum benefit when the procedure is performed on the second eye. PRELEX is usually performed on the second eye within a week or two of the first procedure.
We will want to see you in our office to monitor your progress with PRELEX on the following schedule:

1. It is important for me to be less dependent on glasses or contact lenses.
2. I am willing to accept the limitations inherent in a replacement lens with a built-in bifocal. Some limitations are: the lens will probably cause halos around lights; your distance vision will improve over several days; your near vision will improve for months to years.
3. I am willing to have this multifocal lens in both eyes for at least 3 months to learn how to use it properly.

If you answered YES to all these statements you may be a candidate for PRELEX Vision Correction! A consultation with one of our surgeons will help to determine if the procedure is right for you.

The surgeon will discuss the procedure with you and also evaluate your eye for other issues such as astigmatism, pupil size, and eye diseases that would make the procedure inappropriate for you.
Following Your Procedure and Realistic Expectations