A comprehensive review of the effect of multifocal intraocular lens (IOL) designs on postoperative ocular straylight was performed. Studies reporting straylight values obtained with the natural pupil using the C-Quant device after uneventful multifocal IOL implantation were included. The IOLs were categorized based on their material characteristics; that is, hydrophobicity and presence of colored chromophores. Age adjustment was achieved using the straylight age-dependency norm for pseudophakic eyes. This norm also served as a reference for comparing mean straylight levels of the various IOLs. The literature review identified 10 studies reporting 9 multifocal IOL designs. The hydrophilic IOLs showed less straylight than the hydrophobic IOLs by 0.08 log(s) (
P = .001).
Blue violet light–filtering IOLs showed less straylight than standard IOLs by 0.04 log(s), which was not statistically significant (
P = .32). Hydrophobicity was a factor that significantly affected straylight in multifocal IOLs.
Financial Disclosures
The Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences owns a patent on straylight measurement, with Dr. van den Berg as the inventor, and licenses it to Oculus Optikgeräte GmbH for the C-Quant instrument. No other author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.