Fewer capsulotomy tears with Catalys upgrade

This review of 1,000 consecutive femtosecond laser-assisted cataract cases, using the current Catalys femtosecond laser system software, found an anterior capsule tear rate of just 0.1%

Using software versions 2.15, 2.15.13 and 2.20, the authors achieved a complete 360-degree capsulotomy – without adhesions or bridging tags – in 998 of the 1,000 cases. None of these cases had intraoperative anterior capsule tears.

Of the 2 cases, 1 occurred because the laser was aborted during the procedure, and a manual capsulotomy was completed without incident. The second happened during a routine procedure with a single adhesion at capsulotomy removal, which resulted in a radial tear, though not extending to the posterior capsule.

Previous studies have shown anterior capsule tear rates ranging from 0% to 1.9%. The authors believe the comparatively low tear rate found in this study may be due in part to software improvements, noting that a typical capsulotomy took 4.5 seconds using older version, compared with 1.5 seconds with current versions.