Crystalens

[larke]

Two years ago I had cataract surgery and opted for the Crystalens upgrade.
I had the start of a cataract in my left eye at that time, which is getting progressively worse.
The surgeon has given me 3 choices if I go ahead with surgery soon.
Monolens ( which he feels might pose an adjustment problem; i.e. one eye far, one near
A standard lens
The new upgraded Cyrstalens
Although the surgeon will not make this decisiion for me, he did say that having a Crystalens in my left eye would have the optimum results for my desired vision.
Please advise as to the safety of this new and improved lens, and your thoughts about my choices.
Thanks.

[magrange]

Just one caveat.  As I understand it, Crystalens is not covered by Medicare or some other insurance.  My ophthalmologist wanted to charge an extra $3200 per lens for it, and he pushed it hard.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[2ndsight]

a few people here have posted about the new Crystalens HD. There have been a few comments about being able to read and see close-up, but having blurry or otherwise not so good distance vision!

The Crystalens is supposed to work best when implanted in both eyes. I had one done (right eye) and would definitely plan to go with another one when I need surgery on the left. I would probably go with the HD since it is the latest model and have both eyes set for distance. If it turns out afterwards you have a little imbalance in your close-up vision you could wear  weak reading glasses.

[JodieJ]

Maybe I misunderstood your question.  Do you already have a Crystalens in one eye (which gives you good distance vision)?  Then get an aspheric monofocal IOL in your second eye, and have it set for intermediate vision.  Above comments still apply.

[JodieJ]

IMO, your best bet would be aspheric monofocal IOLs set for blended vision (distance vision in dominant eye, intermediate vision in non-dominant eye).  If all goes as planned, you would only need glasses for prolonged reading or seeing small print.  This is at least as good (and possibly much better) as what you'd get with the Crystalens, and your chances of having post-surgery problems would be much lower.  You'd also save a few thousand dollars on the "premium" IOL surcharge, which might not make your surgeon happy.