The Effect of a Blue Light Filtering Intraocular Lens on Macular Edema

This study sought to compare the effects of either a blue light-filtering intraocular lens (blue-filtering IOL) or an ultraviolet light-filtering intraocular lens (UV-filtering IOL) on the incidence of angiographic macular edema (ME) 3 and 12 months after implantation. A prospective randomized parallel clinical study was performed at Showa University Hospital. Forty-five cataract patients randomly received either a blue-filtering IOL (n = 21) or a UV-filtering IOL (n = 24), and macular leakage was evaluated by fluorescence angiography. At 3 months, ME was 24% in the blue- and 25% in the UV-filtering IOL group. At 12 months, ME was 5% in the blue- and 21% in the UV-filtering IOL group. The recovery rate in the blue-filtering IOL group was higher than in the UV-filtering IOL group at 12 months after surgery (P = 0.0457). These results suggested that an implanted blue-filtering IOL is more effective for recovery of ME than a UV-filtering IOL.