The Choyce Anterior Chamber Implants

Abstract

The anterior chamber implant was invented by Benedetto Strampelli of Rome in 1953 and was next in the time sequence after the Ridley posterior chamber lens. Also made of polymethylmethacrylate, this was placed in front of the iris and pupil, the central portion containing a bi-convex optic to correct the aphakia and with a blunt point at one end and a dovetail at the other. Thus 3-point, sutureless fixation within the anterior chamber was achieved. Primarily designed for secondary implantation and technically a simpler procedure than the Ridley operation, it was widely used initially. Unfortunately the earlier models were of doubtful purity, as well as being too thick and too steeply curved, thus bringing them dangerously close to the cornea which was therefore exposed to both chemical and mechanical trauma. The ensuing high incidence of corneal dystrophy led many surgeons to abandon intraocular lens implantation altogether, or to experiment with the pupillary lenses of Epstein, 1955 or Binkhorst, 1957.