PanOptix v Synergy
Posted , 4 users are following.
Shannon Wong has just posted a lengthy video - PanOptix v Synergy. Of note, his two optometrists, based on 1 day and 1 month evaluations of post surgery patients, favored PanOptix. Based on overall aspects of each IOL, Dr. Wong favors Synergy. The video is very fair and balanced in its analysis. As with the Symfony v PanOptix video, Dr. Wong mentions glistenings as a potential problem with the Alcon lens material. However, he notes he has been implanting Alcon lenses since 2005 and has never had to explant a lens due to glistenings. For patients who cannot tolerate either PanOptix or Synergy, likely because of the diffractive rings, Dr. Wong states he has had success with Vivity. He emphasized that Vivity would necessitate reading glasses. As a personal side note to Dr. Wong's video, my ophthalmologist (per comments to me from his assistant) has had great success with PanOptix and Eyhance. He was disappointed in results with Vivity. Other discussions on this site have commented on the reduction in contrast with Vivity, which are likely not very noticeable to a patient who has struggled with severe cataract problems. My ophthalmologist has only implanted a few patients with the Synergy lens, but his assistant seemed pretty happy with the early results. I will be making a lens selection in two weeks with surgery scheduled in four weeks. This has been one of the most difficult and consequential decisions of my life. I am hoping to have a Synergy lens implanted, primarily because I have high order amblyopia. I only have good vision in one eye. For those who have amblyopia and are looking for helpful information, there is little out there. The one patient whose Synergy lens was explanted and replaced with a Vivity lens by Shannon Wong had low amblyopia. My vision is monocular. Someone with slight amblyopia has eyes that function bilaterally. The degree of amblyopia is apparently very important in lens selection. Final personal note, I have a dear friend who just had toric Eyhance lenses implanted. One eye is plano and the other eye is -0.25 as planned. My friend says she is "over the moon with joy" after her cataract surgeries. She was highly myopic with astigmatism of 1.0 and 1.25. She recently purchased some 1.25 readers for small print or long periods of reading, but she otherwise has excellent functional near vision. I'm sure everyone's results are different, but there are many happy results out there. My friend's doctor was implanting Eyhance for the first time. As many of us have suspected about eye centers, his Tulsa eye center only implants Alcon lenses. My friend's ophthalmologist had to get special permission from his administration to make an exception. Best wishes and good luck to all of you on this frustrating journey. It's daunting. I'm going to let my ophthalmologist offer his best professional opinion on lens selection and hope we'll be in agreement. I'm especially happy to know that he is not limited to one brand of lens.
1 like, 4 replies
Songirl kathleen07994
Posted
Good luck in your decision and your future surgery. I agree with you it is one of the most difficult decisions to make. I really want to be glasses free so I really want the Panoptix. If i just listen to Dr. Wong I would not have any reservations, however reading patients outcome on here, I'm not so sure.
rwbil kathleen07994
Posted
There needs to be more doctors, like Dr. Wong. Most Opthmalogist will not even call you back. Like your experience there is no one in my area with any significant experience with the Synergy IOL. My doctor has the most I have found near me and he has implanted all of 5.
If you believe the clinical trials the Synergy seems to perform better than the PanOptics. From the Real World I have gathered, which is very slim, so take this with a grain of salt, I think the PanOptics will have less halos in general, but the Synergy will have superior close and dim light vision.
I think in part people's happiness with the lens depends what there pre surgery point was. Someone like me with bad cataracts and horrible vision might perceive the outcome different that someone young, whos eyes still adopt and just have a minor cataract.
Keep us updated with your story as I am right behind you or maybe in front depending on my procrastination.
Karl_H kathleen07994
Posted
Good luck with your decision. I can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed. I chose the PanOptix lens, and the day before my cataract surgery, I was depressed and worried that I made the wrong choice. I'd read all about the bad experiences with halos and blurry vision on this forum and elsewhere. Luckily, in my case, it turned out better than I could have imagined. Vision is great at all distances, and no problems at all with night driving. Whatever you decide, hopefully your outcome turns out just as well.
I enjoy Dr. Wong's informative videos. He really tries to be as fair and objective as possible. Even though he says that he has never had to explant a lens due to glistenings, that isn't the same as saying that he hasn't had patients with degraded vision due to glistenings. It just might not have been severe enough to warrant explantation. I am very happy with the PanOptix lens and would choose it again in a heartbeat, but I do worry about glistenings down the road. I had my surgery at age 48, so I could potentially have these lenses for 30-40 years, which is a lot of time for glistenings to develop.
rwbil kathleen07994
Posted
Just finished watching the video. Interesting that his Optometrists preferred PanOptics.
From my research, as limited as the data is, it appears Synergy Clinical Trials might not tell the whole story.
For example one thing I liked about Synergy was the idea of continuous vision from distance to close. But in reality there seems to be a sweet spot of about 13" and vision degrades from there. How much degradation one will get is unknown. I guess if your reading distance is exactly 13" you are golden. I was hoping I could read a book without having to find the perfect sweet spot, but now thinking to do any serious close reading, one might still need a bright light and reading glasses.
Even though, Dr. Wong's Optometrists preferred PanOptics, they did not discuss all the tradeoffs. For example, if with Synergy I missed a letter or two on the 20/20 distance scale but saw better in dim light I would be OK with that tradeoff.
Sadly at this point in time it is hard to gather detailed analysis on the tradeoffs.