Alcon Clareon Availability in Alberta, Canada
Posted , 6 users are following.
My wife went in for a pre-op cataract surgery appointment today with the same surgeon that did my eye with an AcrySof IQ monofocal. She asked if the Clareon lens was an option. The surgeon said yes it was and he recommended it. He normally works out of a hospital and that is where I had my eye done. The complication with the Clareon is that he does that surgery out of his own clinic. It costs an extra $300 for the Clareon, but because he does it out of of his clinic she can get in for the surgery in 6 weeks or so instead of 6 months. And because all hospital surgeries are currently shut down due to COVID, it could even be longer with the hospital option. Thought I would pass that on, for information to those in Canada. The arrangements may vary from province to province and surgeon to surgeon.
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Not sure if the toric versions of this lens are available in Canada. They are in the US. Hope to clarify what the status is in Canada, soon...
0 likes, 12 replies
RonAKA
Posted
We found out today that the surgeon we go to in Alberta does not have access to Clareon toric lenses, only Clareon monofocal.
rwbil RonAKA
Edited
Being I have Tecnis, I have only limited read about the new Clereon. Is the goal to use this material and what ever other advantages it has such as glare lower PCO as the base for all Alcons IOLs in the future?
I thought I read somewhere there was a Clareon PanOptics. I am just wondering what type of improvement it has especially in the area of Dysphotpsias. Maybe it will eliminate the controversial "CAT" eye effect.
RonAKA rwbil
Posted
I think the main improvement is low probability of the optometrist seeing "glistenings". The patient is highly unlikely to see them in any case. The improvements may be only cosmetic. There is a claimed smoother surface polish to the lens. Perhaps the rougher surface could explain the "cat eye" effect, but just guessing. And on the guessing topic, I suspect Alcon's plan is to move to the Clareon material for all the lenses. They are in the phase of justifying having two different materials....
lucy24197 RonAKA
Posted
My doctor mentioned glistenings as a consideration when he decided to go with the Tecnis instead of the Alcon, but my eyes are a mess with retinopathy. I think of it as a signal to noise ratio--since I have so much noise from the retinopathy, anything that could possibly improve or impact the signal through the lens had to be considered. I think it was a good and conservative choice. I seem to recall seeing that the Tecnis may also have slightly better contrast. That said, it seems like the people posting on this forum who have gotten Alcon lenses may have a little better depth of field.If my eyes were healthier I would have had no problem using the Acrysof lens, although there is glaucoma in my family so I'd have to research the potential effect of the drops on glistenings.
RonAKA
Posted
I am getting more serious about going for this Clareon lens for my second eye surgery with it looking like February for surgery. I found this study which compared the outcomes of a Clareon and AcrySof lens. I think the short story is that Clareon has a lower risk of PCO, and negative dysphotopsia, but slightly higher risk of positive dysphotopsia. I am now down to deciding between a Vivity and Clareon....
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The Open Ophthalmology Journal Comparison of Visual Outcomes and Patient Satisfaction Following Cataract Surgery with Two Monofocal Intraocular Lenses: Clareon® vs AcrySof® IQ Monofocal
awcUK RonAKA
Posted
I think it is only a question of time before a Clareon Vivity hits the market.
(At least, that's what I'm hoping!)
RonAKA awcUK
Posted
If they work out well for Alcon then I suspect that too. At a very recent discussion with the surgeon he said that he thought the plan was to get the basic monfocals on the market first to work any "bugs" out, and then to move to the other platforms, like torics, Vivity, and PanOptix. That said, I think I have seen information that the torics are available in the US now, but not Canada so far.
soks RonAKA
Posted
safran said that they had a hard time getting diffractive rings on the clareon but even the clareon pan optix is already fda approved.
RonAKA soks
Posted
Yes, when we asked the surgeon about Clareon torics I was aware that Health Canada had approved them and they were announced in Canada. But, it seems they are not available yet. It may be that Alcon has not got them into production of any significant quantity yet. They may be in the consumer trial stage where some surgeons get them first to be used with their patients to get more feedback on them.
awcUK RonAKA
Posted
I see "Clareon Vivity" has been registered as a trademark by Alcon in the UK
Google "Clareon Vivity" trademark elite
RonAKA awcUK
Posted
Thanks for that. I see the surgeon on Feb 3 for a consult. I will ask again. Currently I am trying to decide between a Clareon monofocal, and the Vivity in the AcrySof material. I am convinced that the Clareon is a small incremental improvement in the product but far from ground shaking.
RonAKA
Posted
I did get the Clareon monofocal in my left near eye for monovision, about 5 weeks ago. I have a distance set AcrySof IQ in my distance eye. My vision with the auto refraction (hot air balloon on the horizon) tested at -1.25 D which was the target. Once I thought I saw the infamous "cat eye" when looking in the mirror in our bathroom. There is a window on the left and sun was shining in and I thought I could see a rectangular looking gold coloured "thing" in the eye. However, I have only seen it once, and I am now thinking I was probably seeing a reflection image of the window on my left. And try as I might I cannot recreate it again.
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I am 100% certain though that I have some very minor positive dysphotopsia in the Clareon eye. Even in a brightly lighted room when I move my eye from left to right quickly I see a very brief shooting star effect in the very right peripheral vision. It seems like it travels right through my nose! I would describe it as a curiosity and does not at all impact my vision. It took me 5 weeks to even notice it, and now that I have, it only can be seen when I contrive it. This seems to validate the findings in an article about the Clareon that I posted earlier in this thread. It has sharper edges than the AcrySof which are intended to prevent PCO, but do lead to a higher incidence of PD. If it really does reduce PCO it is probably a good tradeoff as this PD is trivial in impact.
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My AcrySof IQ lens has also developed a PD effect which started at exactly the same time as I got a PVD in this eye. In this eye, the PD is similar in that it is in my peripheral right vision (of right eye), but only occurs in dark to dim light with a bright light source in the distance off to my left. I think it only occurs when my pupils are dilated to see in dimmer light, while the PD in my Clareon eye occurs in any light and seem independent of pupil dilation. The PD in my right eye is more distracting especially at night when driving on dark streets with street light off to my left.
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I guess this goes to show that none of these IOLs are totally free from optical side effect issues. But, all in all I am quite happy with them so far, and the monovision. Have not worn glasses since my second eye was done.